Kamen Rider Voyager
by maxpower02
Summary: The Demon King People, the Maojins. For 657 years they have lived among us, leaving behind a path of carnage and destruction at their wake. One man has dedicated his life to stop them with the power of Voyager, traveling around the world and fighting the Maojins wherever he go. Join him in his journey as he seeks to stop the Maojins from unsealing and reviving their leader!
1. The Wandering Voyager

**A/N: Hello there, and welcome to my newest Kamen Rider project! It's been a while since I created an OC Kamen Rider, and inspired by the newest entry in the Ultra Series franchise,** _ **Ultraman Orb**_ **, I've decided to have another shot at creating an OC Rider series! Like** _ **Orb**_ **, this Rider has cards as its collectible objects, although like** _ **Kamen Rider Blade**_ **these cards will contain the story's monsters, albeit in tarot card-like form as opposed to playing cards like** _ **Blade**_ **. And unlike** _ **Orb**_ **it doesn't involve the fusion of two cards into one form, but it involves the fusion of the monster contained within a card with a human's body to create the Rider's form.**

 **Well then, with this sucky author's note out of the way, let's roll on with the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, TOEI does.**

 **xxx**

 _ **Thailand, 108 years ago**_

Standing in the middle of a burning village were two warriors, who had been battling it out throughout the night all the way towards the early hours of the next day, neither of them having the upper-hand over each other at the cost of the buildings and people around them.

The first warrior was a monstrous brute, based on a Japanese rhinoceros beetle, it has a humanoid shape, tall, muscular, and imposing in build. It was dark purple in color, but the darkness of the night made it look charcoal black. Its head resembled that of a Japanese rhinoceros beetle, the iconic horns and all, with a pair of demonic yellow eyes and a feral grin on its face. Silver chains hung from the humanoid's large shoulder pads, draping across its muscular chest in an "X" formation, while a simple purple loincloth was wrapped on the humanoid's waist. Sharp claws adorn the humanoid's fingers, while its feet resembles pointed boots.

Facing off against the monster in front of it was another humanoid being, this time leaner in shape and covered entirely from head to toe in a radiating white light. The light emanating from the second humanoid's body was so bright, it obscured most if not all of its features, with a jagged, disc-like weapon on its back the only notable characteristic of this humanoid of light.

Crawling out of the wreckage near the two warriors was a young girl, her parents perished the moment their wooden house went down on them. Frightened and injured, the girl watched on as the two warriors in front of them faced off, ready to fight once again.

The monstrous warrior struck first, firing several bolts of purple lightning from its right fist. The bolts struck the warrior of light on its chest, causing it to groan in pain as it stumbled back a bit. The light warrior staggered against the bolts striking its chest for a few seconds, before with a swipe of its right hand, the bolts were easily deflected away, resulting in a series of explosions behind the light warrior that frightened the young girl nearby.

Clenching its right fist, the light warrior decided to make its own move, rushing towards the surprised monstrous warrior and catching it off guard, landing a powerful uppercut onto the monster's left chest. Energy surged throughout the monstrous warrior's body from the light warrior's fist, causing the monstrous warrior's body to glow white for a few brief seconds.

And then, it happened.

The monstrous warrior's body exploded spectacularly, the energies discharged by the huge explosion vaporizing everyone and everything in the surroundings, the trees, the still standing houses of the villages, and even the young girl witnessing the battle, none of them are spared from the explosion's destructive radiation.

Within seconds, the entire village was eradicated by the monstrous warrior's destruction.

As the inferno from the explosion raged on, a young man stood in the middle of the now destroyed village, a weary look on his face. Aged around 20, the man has a tall and skinny build, with tanned brown skin, a small mole on his upper left lip, and chin-length straight black hair. Currently wearing nothing but an ornate-looking cloth around his waist, the young man slowly picks up a card from the ground, the card depicting a purple Japanese rhinoceros beetle flying through several lightning clouds with a purple horizontal line on its left hand side, the words " **THUNDER KABUTO** " emblazoned in white on said line, a small yellow lightning bolt symbol above it. The back of the card was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **A** superimposed on a shield engraved on it. The man then turned his attention towards the destruction around him, his black eyes welling up in tears as he realized what had just happened.

Standing alone in the middle of the destroyed village, the man lets out an anguished cry that echoed throughout the area…

 **xxx**

 _ **KAMEN RIDER VOYAGER**_

 **Episode 1: The Wandering Voyager**

 **OP: Eiyuu no Uta – THE ALFEE**

 **xxx**

 _ **Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, present day**_

Standing proudly in one of Vietnam's largest cities was the Bitexco Financial Tower, one of the icons of Ho Chi Minh City. Often called "the real life Avengers Tower" because of its resemblance to the iconic building from the Marvel comics, the Bitexco Financial Tower was the 3rd highest building in Vietnam, towering over the city with its 68 stories and its distinct helipad. And our story will start from the building's helipad, where we see three humanoid figures standing on it.

The figures were human, clad in ornate green fabric from head to toe. Consisting of two men and a woman, the trio looked down on the busy streets of Saigon beneath them, evil smirks appearing on their faces.

"Looks like the time has come, Temperance," said the first figure clad in light green traditional Chinese clothing, an auburn-haired Caucasian man with a skinny and lanky figure, a pair of round glasses on his face, and an abacus in his arms, "Those humans won't see what'll hit them."

The second figure, an orange-haired muscular Eurasian man clad in a green tank-top, nodded in agreement, "You're right, Hanged Man." The second figure then turned his attention towards the third figure, a white-skinned Vietnamese woman with silky long black hair and clad in a green _ao dai_ (Vietnamese traditional silk dress), "Hermit, send forth our Ace to start our game."

Hermit nodded, taking out a lantern-shaped box. Opening the box, she took out a card, which depicts an eagle soaring through the sky with a green line on the left hand side of the card, several swirling symbols are seen on the top left corner. Closing the box and placing it on the helipad, the woman closed her eyes, muttered an inaudible incantation, before she lifts her right hand to the skies above, gently letting the wind blowing the card away from her grasp.

"May the Eagle pleases his fellow Wind Tribesmen," Hermit said as she, Hanged Man, and Temperance saw the card flying away with the wind.

 **xxx**

Halfway across the city, a man wearing a gray shirt, green shorts and a green cap was seen selling balloons to children at a local park. It was a typical Sunday afternoon in Ho Chi Minh City, and with kids flocking the park to enjoy their holiday with their parents, sales has been going quite well for the man.

"Here you go," the middle-aged man said as he handed over an orange balloon to a young boy in front of him, "Enjoy your day."

"Thank you Sir!" the boy said, his face beaming in excitement as he accepted his balloon.

After the boy and his family left his humble balloon stall, the man decided to blow more balloons for his future customers, when a slight breeze suddenly blew through the area.

"Oh my," the man said as he saw the balloons strapped to his stall swaying with the breeze, "Better make sure these won't get blown away."

Suddenly the man felt a slight jab on his chest, an agonizing pain spreading throughout his body seconds afterwards. Groaning in pain, the man slowly collapses to the ground, attracting the attention of several bystanders near the stall.

"Sir, are you okay?"

"Sir?"

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

"Hang in there, Sir!"

As more and more bystanders surrounded his prone body, the man let out a louder groan as he clutched his chest, a slight green glow coming out of it. Suddenly the man stopped moving the moment the glow on his chest died out, much to the panic of the bystanders around him. Seconds afterwards his eyes shot open, a greenish glow coming out of them as an evil smirk formed on the man's face.

"Feels so good to be back."

Suddenly the balloon stall and the bystanders surrounding the man were all blown away by a sudden gust of wind, as the man slowly stood up, a grayish tornado forming around him. The man then threw his arms apart, sending two more tornadoes to wreak havoc on the park. Noticing an apartment building standing nearby, the man thrusts his right hand towards it, sending a tornado that smashed right through the building, splitting it in half. As the top half of the apartment building came crashing down on the ground, people in the park and its surrounding areas fled for their lives as more tornadoes began to show up, taking those who were unlucky enough to avoid their wrath and flinging them to their deaths. More and more buildings around the park were blown away by the tornadoes, killing their occupants and those who were unfortunate enough to be crushed underneath their rubble.

Slowly the man walked away from the park entrance, a scene of carnage and destruction unfolding around him. A greenish glow slowly overtook the man's body, morphing him into something else completely. His body became taller and more muscular, while a pair of wings bursts out from his back. His head transformed into that of an eagle's, while his fingers became talons. The light enveloping the man soon disappeared, revealing the man's transformed self for the world to see.

Standing in the man's place was an eagle-themed humanoid, hulking in build and covered in sky blue feathers from head to toe. A green loincloth supported by a golden belt was seen on the humanoid's waist, while golden talons adorned the humanoid's three fingers and three toes. The humanoid eyes were green in color, while his beak has the same dash of gold as his talons. Streaks of dark blue feathers were seen on the humanoid's wings, which spread proudly on his back, while a crest of red feathers was seen on top of the humanoid's head.

The eagle humanoid slowly looked around, a slight chuckle escaping his beak as he feasted on the destruction that he has created. Buildings have crumbled, dead bodies lie everywhere, trees have been cut down and uprooted, while the skies above the humanoid remained black from the tornadoes that he had summoned earlier.

"I must say, I've done my Tribe proud with this," the eagle humanoid said smugly, before looking up towards the skies above him, "Now, to spread my storms across this city…"

With a mighty grunt, the eagle humanoid leapt off towards the skies, his powerful wings letting off powerful gusts of wind in the process. As the area below him reeled from the destruction that he had caused, the eagle humanoid flew off into the horizon, ready to spread more destruction to the city…

 **xxx**

 ***BEEP BEEP BEEP***

"Just five more minutes, Mom."

 ***BEEP BEEP BEEP***

"Not now, Mom."

 ***BEEP BEEP BEEP***

"Ah, fuck it."

The annoying beeping noise from the alarm clock was quickly silenced by a female hand tossing it aside, causing it to fall from the nightstand where it was placed. The owner of the hand let out a sluggish yawn, stretching her body reluctantly before sitting up on her bed.

20-year old Pham Vu To Quyen, affectionately called "Steffi" by those close to her, blinked her eyes groggily as she came to her senses, picking up her glasses from her nightstand and wearing them, before she realized what she had just done.

"Ah, crap," Steffi muttered, picking up the broken alarm clock from the floor and placing it back on the nightstand, "Reminder to myself, tonight I need to buy my fifth alarm clock for the week…"

Slipping onto her green rabbit slippers, Steffi slowly walked up towards a full-body mirror standing in front of her bed. Tidying up her messed-up shoulder-length straight black hair, the white-skinned young woman straightens up her lime green T-shirt, a yellow duck was seen printed on it, before she adjusted her light brown shorts into place. Now looking more like her normal self rather than someone who has just jumped out of bed, Steffi went out of her room, going towards her apartment's kitchen to fix herself some breakfast.

As she made a nice glass of iced milk coffee for herself, Steffi decided to turn on her radio to catch herself up with the current affairs.

"… _and with last night's victory over last-placed Dong Thap, Binh Duong are chasing surprise packages QNK Quang Nam on the standings. Now, moving on with our daily weather report._ _Strange storm patterns have been detected above Saigon for the past couple of hours, with tornadoes being sighted at Districts 10, 7, 12, Binh Chanh, and Hoc Mon. Around 76 people have been reportedly killed, with hundreds injured…_ "

"Holy shit," Steffi gasped, drinking her coffee nervously, "Let's hope that tornado won't come here…"

"… _meteorologists all over Vietnam has been baffled by this sudden increase of storms on one isolated area. With the unpredictable weather outside, it is advised for everyone living in the Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Area to stay indoors and stay safe. The citizens of Long An, Vung Tau, Ba Ria, Dong Nai, and Tien Giang are also advised to be careful of sudden weather changes as we cross our fingers and hope that the storms in Saigon would subside soon…_ "

Suddenly a knock on the door attracted Steffi's attention, prompting her to place her cup of coffee on the dining table, "Coming!"

Opening the door, Steffi was immediately pushed back inside by two other young women, both of them also 20-years old like her. The two of them are slightly shorter than Steffi, with fair white skin and a pair of glasses on their faces. The only distinguishing feature between these two was that one has freckles on her face and shoulder-length curly black hair tied in a ponytail, while the other has short, bleached pink hair. The two of them were now wearing large, light gray raincoats that literally enveloped their small figures, earning a gasp of shock from Steffi.

"Kim, Vy!" Steffi gasped as she saw her two friends in front of her, "What on Earth are you wearing?"

"Special anti-storm jackets that Vy has been developing for the past two weeks," replied Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, the one with the bleached pink hair, "We saw the news about the tornadoes on TV about half an hour ago and decided to tag you along with us."

"Why's that?" Steffi asked, "Isn't that dangerous?"

"This might perk your interest," Nguyen Thanh Thao Vy, the one with the freckles, immediately took out her iPhone, opening its Twitter app and showing it to Steffi, "Reports has been coming in from eyewitness that saw the storms with their own eyes, and all of them reported that they saw what seems to be a birdman just before the tornadoes arrives."

"Bird…man?" Steffi's eyes went wide with interest, "Could it be…"

"…a cryptid," Vy finished, pocketing her iPhone once again before handing Steffi an identical jacket to hers and Kim's that has been rolled up neatly, "Finally this is a chance for our Supernatural Investigation Group to be taken seriously!"

Steffi sighed, accepting the jacket from Vy, "Fine. You two have already warmed up the car, right?"

"Yeap, I'm driving," Kim smiled.

"Good, good," Steffi nodded, knowing all too well about Kim's prowess behind the wheel, "And how are we going to track down this bird man again?"

"I've built a storm-detecting device that has been installed on our car," Vy replied, a prideful look on her face, "And I've also provided us with handheld versions of it so that we could still track our target down on foot!"

"Excellent," Steffi gave Vy a thumbs up, "Now what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

 **xxx**

Just outside Ho Chi Minh City, a black Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R pulled itself into a stop right next to the city's border sign. The motorcycle's rider was a young man, tall and skinny in build, clad in a black leather jacket, a black T-shirt, dark blue trousers and black military boots, while his head was concealed underneath his jet black helmet with its dark visor closed.

The man slowly looked up towards the skies over Ho Chi Minh City, noticing the ominous dark clouds heading towards it.

"They're here," the man spoke to no-one in particular as he slowly took out a card from his jacket pocket. The card depicted a white unicorn standing in front of a pearly white gate, radiating white light coming out of it. A golden horizontal line runs down on the card's left hand side, the words " **HIGH PRIESTESS** " written in black was emblazoned on the line, while a small symbol that resembled a yellow star was seen above the words. The backside of the card was gunmetal gray in color, with the roman numerals " **II** " engraved on it. "Looks like we've finally arrived. Apparently the Maojins have started their move."

" _ **My senses could detect a huge convergence of Maojins in this city**_ ," the card spoke in a gentle female voice, the unicorn image on it flashing a few times as it spoke, " _ **Something in this city must have attracted Maojins from all over the world to gather here**_."

"Well then, it's up to us to find out," the man said, his tone determined, "I don't know about you, but something tells me that the final part of our journey has just started. What do you say about this, Karin? Will you stick with me until the end?"

" _ **I'm positive**_ ," replied the card, now identified as Karin, " _ **Shall we do this?**_ "

"We shall," the man said, pocketing Karin into his jacket once again.

Immediately the man revved his motorcycle into Ho Chi Minh City, his instincts telling him to go after the dark clouds heading towards the city center.

 **xxx**

Steffi, Kim, and Vy have arrived at a riverside park located in the city's District 1, each of them were wearing the same oversized jackets and holding in their hands devices resembling walkie-talkies with an LED screen on it and much more complex-looking antennas than your average walkie-talkies. These were Vy's homemade storm tracking devices, designed to detect the slightest of change in wind patterns, rain intensities, and electromagnetic changes in the sky. These were rudimentary compared to the ones made by professionals, but nevertheless, they still work like a charm.

"No signs of anything strange here," Steffi said as she strolled by the riverside, "How about you two?"

"Nope, nothing out of the ordinary," Kim replied as she lifted the device above her head, "What about you, Vy?"

"I've got nothing too," Vy shook her head, before she noticed a Subaru Impreza police car parking behind the group's bright yellow Suzuki Swift, "Oh crap…"

"What is it?" Steffi asked as she and Kim approached Vy, before she knew all too well what's going to happen next, "Oh, not this shit again…"

Stepping out of the police car were a policeman and a policewoman, both of them wearing their respective police uniforms. But what made these officers different than any other police officers of the city in Steffi's eyes was in fact that she knew these officers personally.

The male officer was 23-year old Pham Minh Tuan, which everyone usually calls Leo. A dashing-looking athletic young man, he looked well-toned and experienced from all the field work that he has done as an officer despite his young age. His rather spiked black hair is styled in a short, military-styled buzz-cut, while his skin was considerably more tanned than Steffi's. No one would expect that Leo here was actually Steffi's older brother due to their contrasting looks and also personalities.

The female officer was 19-year old Dao Ngoc Phuong Anh, and even though her colleagues would formally call her Phuong, her close friends and family would usually calls her Hako. Compared to Steffi, Kim, and Vy who were around their 150 centimeters in height, Hako stood at a towering 169 centimeters, almost matching Leo at 173. Her tall and rather muscular build made her look rather imposing to others, but in reality Hako's a gentle girl who likes to relax when she's not busy. With her long light brown hair, ample-looking bust, and a pair of thin-framed glasses on her face, Hako has earned herself a lot of admires in the force, but right now she only wants to focus on her current position as Leo's partner in the field, a job that she's taken for the past one and a half year since she graduated from the academy.

"You girls again? My God…" Leo shook his head in dismay as he and Hako approached Steffi's group, "What are you girls doing here? A storm warning has been announced about two hours ago. You three should be at home."

"We're just investigating this storm," Steffi said, trying her best to hide the truth even though she knows that her brother will figure it out eventually, "You know, because it's kinda unusual that a storm like this would come to our city?"

"Oh really?" Hako lifted her eyebrows, having being told by Leo about his sister's antics during their patrols, "You sure about that?"

"Yeah, suuuuure," Steffi grinned sheepishly.

Leo chuckled, "You're looking for a cryptid again, aren't you?"

Immediately Steffi and her friends were taken aback by that, with Kim and Vy literally going as white as bedsheets.

"How did you know?" Steffi gasped.

"My oh my," Leo shook his head as he chuckled, "I'm your brother, remember? I always knew when you're lying or not. And from the way you grinned, you're definitely lying."

"Fine," Steffi sighed, "We heard the news about the storms about an hour ago and we heard from Twitter that a birdman has been sighted within the storm clouds. We're trying to track it down so that we could get some solid photographic and video evidence."

"For what?" Hako asked.

"To help you guys, obviously," Steffi sighed again, "I mean come on, there has been a few unusual incidents in Ho Chi Minh City lately that involves cryptids and other creatures beyond the explanation of science. We're trying to do our best so that the police force could solve these incidents quickly…besides, the people of the city deserve to know what's happening, right?"

Leo shook his head as he gave out a gentle sigh, kneeling down next to Steffi and giving his younger sister a pat to the head, "I know what you guys are trying to do and I…I mean we at the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department really appreciate that. But these incidents…these are dangerous incidents that we're talking about here, okay? We're talking about lives being lost, properties being destroyed, an overall disruption to the peace. And the last thing that I wanted to see is my baby sister getting harmed. So please, just leave these things to us, okay?"

A clearly displeased Steffi was about to argue when suddenly she heard a strange screeching noise from the skies above.

"Did you hear that?" Steffi asked.

Before she could get an answer, a loud whistle attracted the attention of everyone in the park. Everyone turned around to see the young man from before, leaning against his motorcycle. He took off his helmet, revealing himself as the same man from the flashback 108 years ago, only this time his hair is rather unkempt. Strangely enough the man doesn't look Vietnamese – his face indicates that he's from either Indonesia or Malaysia.

"Hey guys," the man waved at the group, his Vietnamese surprisingly good despite his foreign looks, "I would suggest you guys to get the Hell out of here."

"Why's that?" Leo asked.

The man took a brief glance at the skies above him, as a group of ominous dark clouds hung overhead, "The devil's wind is coming."

"Eh?" Everyone blinked after hearing that, having no idea on what the man had just said.

"Who are you?" Steffi asked, just as the man hopped onto his motorcycle and placed his helmet on.

Instead of an answer, all that Steffi got was the sound of the man's motorcycle revving away from the park, leaving the group dumbfounded.

Suddenly the devices on Steffi, Kim, and Vy's hands began to beep violently, surprising especially the latter. Immediately Vy checked out the readings on her device's screen and what she saw horrified her a lot.

"920?!" Vy gasped, prompting Steffi and Kim to check their own devices with Leo peeking on Steffi's and Hako looking at Vy's, "Numbers like these are unthinkable even for the worst storms that Vietnam has faced so far! There's a tornado heading towards here about 300 meters from us…and it's bringing a multitude of smaller ones!"

As if on cue, a swirling black cloud flew over the park and the group's heads, with glimpses of the eagle humanoid from before seen from within it. As the cloud approached a series of buildings standing just across the river, it suddenly stopped and started swirling around, creating a huge tornado that immediately smashes through the buildings like cardboards. A loud screech was heard from the cloud as smaller tornadoes began to appear from it, finishing the damage that the huge one has made.

"Hako, did you see that?" Leo gasped.

"Yeah," Hako nodded, "There's no mistake…there's an Unrecorded Lifeform."

"That's a cryptid," Steffi interrupted.

"It's a police jargon," Hako told Steffi, before turning her attention back to Leo, "Should I call back-up?"

"You must definitely should," Leo replied.

Nodding at her partner, Hako immediately ran towards her and Leo's squad car, grabbing the walkie-talkie on the dashboard and establishing communications with HQ, "This is Officer Phuong here at District 1, we have a situation at District 4 just across Calmette Bridge, I repeat, there's a situation at District 4 just across Calmette Bridge. There's a possibility of multiple casualties, requesting immediate back-up."

"We're gonna handle this from here," Leo said, "Just go home and stay safe, okay?"

"And miss this opportunity? Hell no, bro," Steffi shook her head defiantly, before turning her attention towards both Kim and Vy, "Alright girls, this is it. We're going to that tornado and we're going to get evidence of that birdman no matter what! Let's go!"

"Yeah!" both Kim and Vy nodded excitedly.

As Leo watched on in dismay, Steffi and her friends immediately ran towards their car and sped away towards the tornado's direction, completely ignoring the dangers that might befall them at their destination.

"My God, my sister sure is stubborn as Hell," Leo muttered as the yellow Swift vanishes from sight.

"Backup will come in about 5 minutes," Hako reported as she came back from the squad car, before she realizes that Steffi's group has gone missing, "Where's your sister and her friends?"

"They left," Leo sighed, "They went towards that tornado."

"What?!" Hako shot out in surprise, "Leo, it's really dangerous there! Why didn't you stop them?"

"I tried," Leo said, "But then again, it's my sister that we're talking about here. Once she sets her sights on something…nothing and I mean nothing can stop her. I guess the only thing that we could do…is to pray for her safety. And of course stopping that Unrecorded Lifeform from destroying the city."

"Shall we go?" Hako asked.

Leo nodded, "Tell backup to catch up with us at District 4, and don't forget to inform all the available ambulances in both Districts 1 and 4 to be prepared for any victims."

"Gotcha," Hako winked at her partner before she dashed towards the squad car, with Leo following her suit.

Sirens blaring, Leo immediately drove the squad car towards District 4, the traffic around them clearing away to allow a clear path for the two police officers.

 **xxx**

Moments after they had crossed Calmette Bridge, Steffi's group were immediately greeted by a sight out of Hell itself. A tornado almost struck their car, causing Kim to quickly spin the vehicle around it much to everyone's discomfort. Vy's manning the camera right now, riding shotgun next to Kim as she took video footage of the tornado and the carnage that it has caused, while Steffi hanged on tightly at the back.

"God damn," Kim cursed, "Looks like it is no use if we go on by car. I'll find somewhere safe to park this baby and we'll continue on foot."

After 15 minutes of frantic driving, the girls had finally found an alleyway safe from the tornadoes' rampage, allowing Kim to park the car inside it safely. As the tornadoes continued their rampage around them, the three girls immediately put on their jackets and pocketed their storm trackers, ready to track down their target on foot. But just as Steffi and the others were about to step out of their car…

 ***THUD***

A man suddenly fell on top of the car's roof, startling Steffi and her friends. What happened next made them even more startled – the man calmly placed his face against the car's windshield, allowing him to see everyone inside the vehicle clearly. A look of concern is visible on the man's face…but surprisingly he didn't looked like someone who had just fallen out of the sky. In fact, this man's totally unscratched at all!

"Hey!" the man called out as he tapped onto the car's windscreen with his right hand's fingers, "You three should really get out of here, fast."

Steffi gasped, realizing that the man in front of them is in fact the same man who had spoken about "the devil's wind" earlier at the park, "Speak for yourself! What are you doing out there?"

"Saving the day, genius," the man replied, leaping off the car's roof and onto the alleyway, before turning around to see a tornado heading towards him, "So, they've decided to send out the Ace of Wands, huh?"

Seeing the tornado now stopping in front of the alleyway as if beckoning for him, the man immediately ran towards it, just as Steffi and her group had gotten out of their car.

"Wait!" Steffi called out, only to have her call fell into deaf ears. Quickly she turned around towards her friends, "Vy, prepare the camera! Looks like that man might lead us to our breakthrough!"

As the man approached the tornado, it slowly dissipated away, revealing the eagle humanoid from before, his arms cross over his chest while a smug smile can be seen on his beak. Excitement radiated out from the humanoid's eyes as they made contact with the man's own, the latter glaring daggers at the being in front of him.

"I know it was you," the man said as Steffi and her friends immediately hid themselves behind a large garbage can behind him, Vy's hand sticking out to record the entire encounter with her camera, "Ace of Wands…also known as the Eagle Maojin."

The Eagle Maojin chuckled, "Spot on, from the man who has been hunting our kind down for the past 657 years. Tell me, how did you know that was me?"

"No Wind Tribe member would cause such destruction except for their strongest fighter," the man replied, "An idiot move, I have to say…sending out their toughest guy first instead of testing the waters first? What'll happen if I seal you back?"

"The Maojins desire destruction and by sending out their strongest warriors first…they will ensure that the human race would suffer through Hell before submitting to us," the Eagle Maojin said, "And besides…mass destruction will speed up the awakening process and even if I'm sealed…another Maojin will take my place as the Ace of Wands."

From behind the garbage can, Steffi, Kim, and Vy watched the entire conversation anxiously, eager to see what'll happen next. A million thoughts swam inside Steffi's mind right now after she had listened to the man and the Eagle Maojin's conversation, and with that a million question emerged in her head.

" _Maojin? Ace of Wands? Wind Tribe? Seal? Awakening process?_ " Steffi thought as she watched on, " _What's going on here? Are these so-called Maojins the cryptids that has been running around Saigon lately?_ "

"I won't let you guys have your way," the man said, taking out a silver rectangular device from his jacket, "No one's getting awakened and the only thing that's going to happen is you getting sealed back into your card prison."

"Try as you might," the Eagle Maojin chuckled again, "But do you have what it takes to take down the strongest fighter of the Maojin's Wind Tribe?"

The Eagle Maojin immediately flapped his wings, sending a gust of wind towards the man. Immediately the man rolled out of the way, placing the rectangular device on his waist in the process, a pair of silver straps securing it into place, forming a belt around the man's waist with the device as its buckle. Steffi and her friends were not that lucky, however, with the wind blowing the garbage can's contents all over them much to their disgust.

"God damn it!" Steffi winced as she removed old newspapers from her face, "That was some wind!"

"Who the fuck throw diapers into this thing?" Kim said in disgust as she removed a used diaper from her head, "I thought they have specific garbage cans for these kind of things?!"

On the other hand, Vy remained focused on her camera, even though she coughed up several leftover rice from her mouth.

Back to the man and the Eagle Maojin, the former had stood up to his feet, revealing the device on his waist for the world to see. It was rectangular in shape with silver coloring; a rounded translucent screen was seen on the center while a red tab was seen on the right hand side of the device. Two slots were seen on the hip sections of the belt, one on each side with each slot resembling the slots you insert your tickets to when you're in the subway. On the back was a card holder, with a few cards waiting to be picked up.

The man reached for his back and picked up the Thunder Kabuto card, brandishing it at the Eagle Maojin much to the kaijin's horror.

"You monster!" the Eagle Maojin roared, "The Ace of Shields doesn't deserve that fate!"

"Well too bad," the man said, "Looks like I'm going to use your friend's power to kick your ass."

The man pulled out the tab on his belt buckle, revealing a slot and prompting a computerized male voice to yell out,

 **READY!**

The man then inserted the Thunder Kabuto card into the slot, with the Japanese rhinoceros beetle image facing frontwards. Placing his right hand over his right hip, the man crossed his left hand in front of his face and uttered the famous words that would make anyone with evil intentions shudder in fear…

" **Henshin!** "

Immediately the man slammed the tab shut, inserting the card into his belt buckle in the process.

 **ACE HENSHIN! THUNDER KABUTO!**

The translucent screen on the buckle soon glowed purple, with a white image of a Japanese rhinoceros beetle emblazoned on it. Uplifting music was heard from the buckle as a purple ring of energy bursts out from the man's midsection, splitting into two halves as it scanned the man's body from top to bottom, covering him in a black bodysuit. The bodysuit had no distinguishing features whatsoever, apart from a pair of glowing yellow eyes on the helmet and a glowing purple insignia on the middle of the chest, shaped like a circle with the head of a Japanese rhinoceros beetle sticking out from its right side.

Purple grid lines began to materialize around the bodysuit, configuring themselves into pieces of armor that stuck themselves onto the bodysuit's shoulders, torso, gauntlets, and greaves. Each of these armor were purple in color, with silver linings, trims, and highlighting. The shoulder armors were also purple in color, with a silver streak splitting them in the middle and extending out to form a spike, while the torso armor rests comfortably between the belt buckle and the chest insignia. Finally grid lines began to appear around the bodysuit's helmet, forming a Japanese rhinoceros beetle-themed helmet that clicked itself into place on the bodysuit's head. Colored purple with a silver mouthpiece, the helmet's yellow eyes flashed three times to indicate the final phase of the transformation – the appearance of purple lines that ran down the arms, thighs, legs, and the sides of the suit's torso.

With the transformation finally completed, standing in the man's place was a Japanese rhinoceros beetle-themed warrior, colored in a deep shade of purple with a black bodysuit emblazoned by purple lines of the same shade.

"My name is Voyager!" the warrior declared, pointing at himself with his right thumb, "I shine light in the darkness…" he then proceeds to point at the Eagle Maojin with his right index finger, "…and I vanquish evil!"

From the sidelines, Steffi and her friends watched the man's transformation in both amazement and disbelief. Never before they've seen an armored warrior like the one fighting in front of their eyes, but they had heard about stories of such warriors before. Fighting for peace and justice in Japan, these masked warriors would stop at nothing in vanquishing evil around them. From the Shocker organization of 1971 to the Gamma invasion of 2016, the Bugster outbreak of 2017, the invasions of the Dark Holes and Renegade Bonds in 2019 as well as the ongoing Kusarei attack in Japan, for 52 years these warriors have protected Japan and the world, and right now one of these warriors was fighting in front of their own eyes.

"Kamen Rider…" Steffi muttered, before a realization hits her. Immediately she turned her attention towards Vy, "Vy, is your camera still recording?"

"Yes it is," Vy replied with a nod, "What's wrong?"

"Keep recording," Steffi said, a determined look on her face, "Something tells me that we're getting our biggest scoop yet today!"

 **(Cue BGM: Specium Zepellion no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

Both Voyager, the purple warrior, and the Eagle Maojin charged towards each other, the latter having equipped himself with a sky blue curved sword with green feathers hanging from the hilt. The Eagle Maojin struck first, swinging his sword towards Voyager, but the purple warrior manage to swat it easily with his right palm, a left jab to the chest ensues. Before the Eagle Maojin could regain his composure, Voyager attacked again, kicking the kaijin three times on the chest, before sending a fourth kick towards the Eagle Maojin's beak, sending the kaijin spiraling back to the ground.

"This is the power of the strongest Wind Tribe Maojin?" Voyager mocked as the Eagle Maojin struggled to stand up, rubbing his beak in pain, "I should have expected more from the Ace of Wands."

The Eagle Maojin chuckled as he regained his composure, "Not bad, not bad. But let me show you the real power of the Ace of Wands!"

The Eagle Maojin immediately thrusted his right palm forward, sending a small tornado towards Voyager. The purple warrior couldn't avoid the incoming tornado on time and he was sent flying by it, landing back first on a stack of cardboard boxes. Seeing his advantage, the Eagle Maojin grabbed his sword and swiped the air several times, sending several slashes of green energy towards the downed Voyager, striking the warrior on the chest repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Leo and Hako's squad car had pulled itself into a stop nearby, with their backup standing by near them. The two officers stepped out of their car and were immediately greeted by the sight of both Voyager and the Eagle Maojin fighting.

"I've gotten sight of the Unrecorded Lifeform!" Leo exclaimed, "But the purple one…who's that? And what is it doing with the Unrecorded Lifeform?"

"Is it…fighting it?" Hako asked, equally puzzled as her partner.

"Dunno," Leo shrugged, preparing his handgun, "But we need to prepare for the worst. Tell our backup to be prepared."

Hako nodded, before turning her attention towards the police officers already standing by behind them, "In front of us is a battle between an Unrecorded Lifeform and an unknown combatant. One of them is dangerous, the other one, we don't know. Until this battle is over, no one is to engage any participant of this battle, but prepare yourselves for the worst. If the Unrecorded Lifeform wins, gun it down with extreme prejudice. But if the unknown combatant wins…"

Hako went silent for a few seconds, her thoughts still thinking of the most appropriate way to deal with Voyager.

"What should we do?" asked a policeman.

Hako turned her attention towards Leo, "If the purple one wins…what should we do?"

Leo drowned himself in his thoughts for a few seconds, before coming up with a solution that he felt was best for all of them, "If the purple one wins, we bring it in for questioning. We need to know who it is, why it's fighting the Unrecorded Lifeform, and whether it's our friend or foe."

"Gotcha," Hako nodded, before turning her attention back to the policemen behind them, "If the unknown combatant wins, we'll bring it in for questioning. Try your best not to engage it in combat but try to contain it as best as you can."

Back to the battle between Voyager and the Eagle Maojin, the two combatants had resorted to exchanging fisticuffs, with neither of them having the advantage over the other. Deciding to up the ante, the Eagle Maojin brought up his sword once again, slashing Voyager across the chest twice, before the third slash was blocked by the warrior literally grabbing the sword's blade.

"What?!" the Eagle Maojin gasped.

With a simple toss, the Eagle Maojin's sword was robbed from the kaijin's possession, before a punch charged with purple electricity to the creature's right eye sends him stumbling back in pain.

"Damn it!" the Eagle Maojin cursed, his right hand covering his injured right eye, "You win this round, Voyager…but next time, I'm going to be victorious!"

Expanding his wings, the Eagle Maojin quickly took off into the skies with a grunt, but Voyager wouldn't have any of it. Taking out a card from his card holder, Voyager gave it a quick look, hoping that it would give him the advantage needed to stop the Eagle Maojin's escape.

And lucky to him, he's gotten the right one.

The card in question has the same design as his Thunder Kabuto card, only with a grasshopper instead of a Japanese rhinoceros beetle and the words " **THUNDER HOPPER** " emblazoned on it. Like the two other cards that Voyager has, the back of the card is gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **5** superimposed on a shield engraved on it.

As the Eagle Maojin flew higher and higher up in the air, Voyager quickly inserted the card into the slot on his right hip.

 **FIVE ABILITY! THUNDER HOPPER!**

Purple electricity began to spark and cackle around Voyager's boots, before the warrior took a superhuman leap into the air, much to the surprise of everyone spectating the battle. The Eagle Maojin was shocked to see Voyager leaping up to reach him in the skies, leaving him open to a swift roundhouse kick to the neck that sent the kaijin crashing down.

As the Eagle Maojin impacted against the ground in a loud, deafening thud, Voyager landed gracefully nearby, glancing at the crater on the ground created by the Eagle Maojin's landing. Slowly the Eagle Maojin stood up from where he had landed, clearly weakened from his fall with bruises adorning his sky blue body. A smirk appeared underneath Voyager's helmet, knowing all too well it's time for him to finish this fight.

Reaching for his card holder, Voyager took out another card, this time a navy blue card with a golden version of his chest insignia emblazoned on it, the words " **OVERCHARGE** " written in gold next to the insignia. He then quickly inserted the card into the slot on his right hip.

 **THUNDER OVERCHARGE!**

Purple electricity surged from the belt and into Voyager's legs through the suit's purple lines as he crouched down, the energies cackling on his boots for a few seconds before they were all focused on his right foot, causing it and the line on his right leg to glow purple. Feeling that he had gathered enough energy, Voyager began his run-up, sprinting towards the weakened Eagle Maojin before he jumped midway through, somersaulting in the air before assuming a flying side kick position, his energized right leg ready to strike.

" **Lightning Smash!** " Voyager calls out as gravity kicks in, sending him flying towards the Eagle Maojin.

The Eagle Maojin could do nothing as Voyager's energized right boot smashed itself against his chest, before the warrior's left boot kicked him away, allowing Voyager to perform a backward flip before landing gracefully on the ground. The Eagle Maojin stumbled back, purple energy surging throughout his body as he lets out one final screech of pain, his body exploding seconds afterwards.

 **(BGM ends)**

"Holy shit!" Steffi gasped as she winced from the huge explosion in front of her, "Did you get that, Vy?"

"Yeah," an equally surprised Vy replied, "All in its blazing glory."

The skies above began to clear away the moment the Eagle Maojin met his demise, allowing the Sun to shine over Ho Chi Minh City once again. Slowly Voyager walked towards the spot where the Eagle Maojin had exploded, seeing that all that remains from the heinous kaijin were the balloon seller that he had possessed, now lying injured on the ground, and the card that contained the Maojin in the first place, now with the words " **HURRICANE EAGLE** " emblazoned on it. Voyager slowly picks up the card, giving it a good and thorough look down to its stylized **A** superimposed on a wand on the back of the card.

"Another one bites the dust," Voyager remarked as he placed the card into his card holder, before he glanced at the injured man lying near him, "Hey, are you okay?"

The man gave out a groan as a reply, shaking his head briefly. Bruises and cuts were seen all over his body, while his shirt was torn in a few places, blood trickling from these cuts. Knowing that the man in front of him needed immediate medical attention, Voyager slowly picked up the man, helping him back to his feet, before placing the man's right arm over his shoulder. Voyager's yellow eyes then noticed a huge number of law enforcement personnel surrounding the area where he and the Eagle Maojin had fought. Noticing an ambulance between the officers, Voyager slowly made his way there, the injured balloon seller in tow.

"Take him to the nearest hospital quickly," Voyager said as he handed the injured man over to the medical personnel stationed around the ambulance, "He's badly injured and needs immediate attention."

The EMTs quickly loaded the injured balloon seller into the ambulance and within minutes the vehicle was on its way to the hospital, with a clearly relieved Voyager looking on.

"Freeze!"

Suddenly Voyager turned around to see Leo pointing his handgun at him, a stern and threatening look etched on the young policeman's face. Behind him were Hako and the other police officers, their weapons also pointed at Voyager. Seeing this threatening gesture, a sigh escaped Voyager's mouth.

"Seriously you guys? I just saved your city," Voyager said disapprovingly, "What's up with the guns?"

"We're taking you in," Leo said, his gun still pointed at Voyager, "Hands where I can see 'em."

Sighing reluctantly and knowing that if he resisted things will get even more awry for him, Voyager slowly lifted up both of his hands, allowing Leo to holster his gun back in place and take out his handcuffs. The young policeman quickly went towards Voyager and placed the handcuffs on the warrior's wrists.

"Leo!"

Coming out from their hiding place, a fuming Steffi confronted her brother, with Kim and Vy following her, the latter having finished recording the moment Voyager handed the balloon seller to the medics.

"What are you doing?! You can't just arrest him like that!" Steffi protested as he saw Voyager in handcuffs.

"We're just taking him in for questioning," Leo replied, trying his best to sound like a reasonable authority figure, "I mean, you've seen it for yourselves, right? This man could easily take down an Unrecorded Lifeform while our entire police force is struggling against them. We need to make sure whether this man is our ally or not."

"But he is!" Steffi argued, "Vy, show him!"

Vy was about to show Leo the footage that she had taken when the young policeman shook his head, turning down the offer, "I don't need to, since I also saw the fight with my own eyes. And from how he fights, it seems like that he has fought these Unrecorded Lifeforms for a while." Leo then turned his attention towards the cuffed Voyager, "You Sir are going to tell us everything that we need to know about those monsters that you fought."

"I will, I will," Voyager sighed again, "Just not like this, okay? I don't feel comfortable in these things."

"Sorry, its police protocol," Leo said as he led Voyager towards his and Hako's squad car, "Let's go!"

Voyager rolled his eyes inside his helmet in dismay as he was forced into the car, before Leo drove the car away from the scene, the other police cars following suit. A clearly displeased Steffi and her friends decided to follow them on their car, a part of them annoyed that Voyager got arrested for what he did, but another part of them curious on what the warrior knew about these Maojins that has been lurking around the city for a while.

As everyone in District 4 recovered themselves from the Eagle Maojin's attack, a black figure watched on silently as the police cars ran past it, its orange visor-like eye watching the cars intently. The figure's interest perked slightly once it saw Voyager inside one of the police cars, a slight malicious giggle escaping its silver mouth. As the cars disappeared from the being's sight, it slowly walked away from its hiding place.

 **xxx**

"Thank fuck those idiots haven't found this place yet."

Hidden underground at the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City was an ancient-looking tomb, with inscriptions written all over the entrance. Standing in front of the currently sealed entrance were Hanged Man, Hermit, and Temperance, the three green-clad figures gazing at the huge block of stone that separates them from whatever's inside it.

"So, he has returned," Hanged Man spoke first, apparently having sensed the fall of the Eagle Maojin a few minutes ago, "The bane of our existence…Voyager."

Both Temperance and Hermit winced in disgust at the last word that came out from Hanged Man's mouth, with even Hanged Man himself having to fight off the urge to throw up when he said that.

"That bastard has killed our Ace," Hanged Man said in disgust again, before his tone reverted back into his usual calmer one, "But then again, the Eagle had done himself proud with his mass killings."

Slowly the Hanged Man placed his hand against the stone in front of him, causing five glowing characters to show up, each of them in different colors and depicting a different animal – a red Komodo dragon, a purple Japanese rhinoceros beetle, a blue manta ray, a green eagle, and a yellow rhinoceros. Seconds later the green eagle symbol vanishes from sight, leaving behind only four characters on the stone.

"The seal is weakening thanks to the Eagle's rampage," Temperance said, an evil smirk appearing on his face, "Now, if only our next warrior could pull off an even higher kill count than him…"

"You mean our next warrior."

The three green-clad figures turned around to see a pale-skinned young man walking towards them, wearing a fiery red _hakama_ and having a fiery red katana strapped to his back. His hairstyle was quite striking – spiked all the way to the top and dyed bright red with yellow streaks.

"Devil," Hermit said, recognizing the figure in front of her all too well.

Devil let out a brief chuckle, "I see that your Ace has fallen, eh? How pitiful…he was doing a great job, after all."

"He would have done it if it's not for that pesky Voyager," Temperance grumbled, punching his right fist against his left palm repeatedly to calm himself down, "And what are you Fire Tribe buffoons are going to do about it?"

Devil chuckled again, taking out an ancient-looking lighter and a card that depicted a Komodo dragon with a fiery background, "What we're going to do about it? Simple – tonight, we're having a barbeque…and the main dish…is Voyager."

And with that Devil lit up his lighter and placed its resulting flame against the Komodo card, burning it away instantly.

"Now sit back and watch as Ho Chi Minh City becomes a sea of flames…"

 **xxx**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **xxx**

 **Next time on Kamen Rider Voyager, episode 2 – His Name is Kamen Rider**

Voyager has been captured by the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department, who questions his motives and purposes of fighting the Maojins as well as extracting vital information regarding the Maojins from him. But things went south as Hako was possessed by the Ace of Swords, the strongest Fire Tribe warrior, the Komodo Maojin! Will Voyager prove his worth as humanity's ally and save Hako? Or will Ho Chi Minh City go up in flames? The war between Voyager and the Maojins will be revealed to the world soon enough!

 **xxx**

 **Maojin Card of the Day**

 **Thunder Kabuto**

 **Class:** Ace of Shields

 **Tribe:** Thunder

 **Properties:** Transforms Voyager into his default Thunder Form. A balanced warrior themed after the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Voyager relies on his balanced speed and strength to tire out enemies. He's also capable of charging his punches and kicks with electricity, shocking enemies with each blow.

 **Maojin of the Day**

 **Eagle Maojin**

 **Class:** Ace of Wands

 **Tribe:** Wind

 **Motif:** Eagle

 **Host:** unnamed balloon seller

 **Abilities:** flight, aerokinesis (tornado and storm creation, being able to send out gusts of strong wind). He is also armed with a curved sword that he puts into great use, and is able to fire off green energy slashes with it.

 **xxx**

 **And it's a wrap! The first chapter of** _ **Kamen Rider Voyager**_ **is done! I sincerely apologize if it's too short for you and it's kinda bland, but yeah haha I'm struggling with finals and essays here so my attention's also kinda divided. I'm also noticing that a few aspects of this chapter feels a bit** _ **Orb-**_ **ish, but rest assured, future chapters will be more and more original. Oh, and timeline wise, this take place during the events of** _ **Ghost**_ **and takes place in the same universe as them.**

 **Feel free to leave your reviews but no flames please! I would really appreciate people who spent their time reading this. And last but not least, I would like to thank these authors and their stories on this site for inspiring me to do this. I may not review their stories, but I do read them in a regular basis:**

 _ **Kamen Rider Onmyo**_ **by dfox300,** _ **Kamen Rider Phantom**_ **by Celsius Fate,** _ **Kamen Rider Kage**_ **by Kendell,** _ **Kamen Rider RaiLeon: Redux!**_ **by MaesterDimentio,** _ **Kamen Rider Wild**_ **by Kuro no okami 23,** _ **Kamen Rider Kaze**_ **by The Wild Fang, and** _ **Kamen Rider Sin**_ **and** _ **Kamen Rider Vitaz**_ **, both by Myshiroyuki. Check them out, they're really awesome!**

 **This is maxpower02, signing off!**


	2. His Name is Kamen Rider

**A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while since I updated this story, since for the past month I've been spending my summer with my family in Indonesia. Now I'm back in Japan, in front of my trusted laptop, and I'm ready to continue with** _ **Kamen Rider Voyager**_ **! A big thank you to xXRocketShark216Xx for being this story's first reviewer, your advices for this story will truly help me in the long run! It's true that the grammar in this story is not very perfect – being Indonesian, English is obviously not my mother tongue. But I'll try my best to improve on it in each chapter! And of course, the reason why the protagonist (his name will be revealed in this chapter!) could survive as long as he is will be revealed slowly as we go on.**

 **Let's roll on with the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, TOEI does.**

 **xxx**

 **Previously, on Kamen Rider Voyager**

 _A series of mysterious tornadoes has struck Ho Chi Minh City, attracting the attention of Pham Vu To Quyen (Steffi), Nguyen Thanh Thao Vy (Vy), and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (Kim), three young women with a huge interest in the world of "cryptids," mysterious creatures that has been showing up all over Ho Chi Minh City of late. The culprit behind the tornadoes was one of the "cryptids" that the trio are investigating, the Ace of Wands that is the Eagle Maojin. A mysterious man suddenly shows up to fight the Maojin, transforming into a warrior called Voyager._

 _After a thrilling fight, Voyager easily defeats the Eagle Maojin and seals the fiend back into his card form, but after the fight Voyager was immediately arrested by the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department, who are still uncertain whether they could trust Voyager with the task of protecting the city or not._

 _Will Voyager gain the trust of the HCPD? Or will he face incarceration? Find out now!_

 **xxx**

"Wonder where she is now?"

Sitting inside a silver Bentley Continental GT, a 19-year old young woman slowly glanced out of the vehicle's window as it navigated its way through the torn-apart District 4, still recovering from the battle between Voyager and the Eagle Maojin a few hours ago. A worried expression could be seen on her face, as her black eyes scanned the surroundings for a certain someone that she's been searching for the past hour.

Wearing a black and white striped shirt and a pair of blue denim jeans that covered her athletic figure complete with black sneakers, the young woman has shoulder-length straight black hair, with a slight bang over her forehead, lightly tanned skin, and a cute face that would make any men fall for her, complete with a pair of black-framed glasses that adds more to her charm.

"Ne, Thao, are you sure that we're in the right place?" the young woman asked her driver.

"I'm positive," replied Thao, the 20-year old young woman who is now currently manning the vehicle, "The readings of Tran's cellphone signal indicates that she was last seen here in District 4."

Vo Hieu Thao was the young woman's personal assistant and, having lived with the young woman since childhood, her closest friend. She has a medium build, white skin, and dark brown, shoulder length and curly hair. Like the young woman, she also has a bang over her forehead, only Thao's bang being larger and more prominent. Right now she's wearing a black T-shirt with the words " _Saigonese_ " written on it, navy blue shorts, black sneakers, and a pair of large-framed glasses on her face. An informal look for a personal assistant, and even Thao herself found it rather awkward. But the young woman insisted Thao to drop the formalities around her – she was her closest friend after all.

"Man," the young woman sighed, "I wonder where Tran ran off to this time…"

Suddenly the young woman noticed someone lying unconscious on the nearby sidewalk. It was another young woman, around 22 years of age. Sporting an athletic build, white skin, and short brown hair, the woman wore a pale blue medical robe and black rubber sandals.

"There she is!" the young woman exclaimed as she saw the lying woman, "Thao, pull over."

The Bentley pulled over right next to the lying woman, with the young woman quickly emerging from the passenger door, frantically going towards the lying woman's side before she knelt down next to her. The young woman quickly checked the lying woman's pulse and breathed a sigh of relief after finding out that the lying woman is still indeed alive.

"Tran?" the young woman called out as she places the lying woman's head on her lap, "Hang in there, we'll get you back home as soon as possible!"

"Uuuuh…" slowly the lying woman lets out a groan as she opened her eyes, the young woman being the first thing she saw. Immediately a brief smile emerged on her face, "Minh? Is that you?"

"It's me," Minh, the young woman, lets out a warm smile as she picked up the lying woman, "Come on, let's get you back home."

Tran, the lying woman, lets out a weak nod as Minh led her to the parked Bentley, with Thao already folding the car's passenger seat to allow Minh to place Tran on the backseat.

"Back to the mansion, Minh?" Thao asked as Minh secured her seatbelt.

"Yeah," Minh replied, taking a sip from her water bottle before continuing, "Tell the guys back home to prep up the equipment, we need to know whether Tran's condition had improved or deteriorated during her little adventure."

"I'll make the call once we stop at a traffic light," Thao said, placing her phone on a port built onto the car's dashboard, which will enable her to perform wireless calls without having to take her hands off the wheel.

As Thao and Minh continued chatting along the journey, Tran slept gently on the backseat, still tired from whatever ordeal that she's been through prior to her being found. As she moved slowly in her sleep, Tran placed her right hand on her chest, revealing an ominous-looking tattoo drawn on the back of her right hand, shaped like a card with an image of a black _Tyrannosaurus_ _rex_ on it, the word " **STAR** " emblazoned vertically next to the _T. rex_ image.

The eyes of the _T. rex_ glowed orange briefly as it lets out a soft, yet terrifying growl…

 **xxx**

 _ **KAMEN RIDER VOYAGER**_

 **Episode 2: His Name is Kamen Rider**

 **OP: Eiyuu no Uta – THE ALFEE**

 **xxx**

 _ **Ho Chi Minh City Police Department Headquarters, District 1**_

An untransformed Voyager found himself cuffed to a metallic chair inside a spacious room painted entirely in white. In front of him were a metallic table and two more metallic chairs, with Voyager's belt buckle and card holder resting idly on the former and Leo and Hako sitting on the latter, the two police officers looking at Voyager suspiciously. But to be honest, Voyager couldn't blame them – whenever he traveled to a city in any country and fought the Maojins there, he would always get the same treatment by the local law enforcements there. Getting arrested, being asked a multitude of questions, before being released with a stern warning to never step foot into that city ever again. Even though he had good intentions, the idea of having a man wearing an unusual suit of armor fighting monsters is too much for the law enforcements of any city that Voyager had set his feet into.

Which is why, today Voyager has been expecting the same kind of treatment and result from the two police officers in front of him. Get questioned, probed, and then kicked out. It's as simple as that.

"We've searched through all of your belongings," Leo spoke first, "And we didn't find any definitive ID regarding you. No ID card, no passport, nothing."

"So be a cooperative boy that you are and tell us," Hako continued, "Who are you?"

Voyager chuckled, "I'm what you call a wanderer, an explorer, an adventurer of the world. I'm Voyager."

"We know that," Leo said sternly, "You practically shouted that during your fight today."

"Oh really?" Voyager's eyes went wide as an awkward smile etched itself on his face, "Man, you guys must have watched a lot back there!"

"We sure did," replied Hako, "From your transformation, to you battling it out with the Unrecorded Lifeform, and finally to the point where you made that thing blew up with a single kick. Now, seriously, tell us. Just tell us any information about yourself that we need. Your name, your age, your nationality. All of it."

Voyager rolled his eyes, knowing that if he resist even further, the officers in front of him would treat him even harsher, "Fine. But promise me, don't laugh."

"Why so?" Leo asked.

"Because," Voyager replied, a smile appearing on his face, "My name is Krishna. I'm 677 years old, and I'm from the Majapahit Empire in the Indonesian Archipelago."

A brief yet tense moment of silence washed over the room after Krishna had introduced himself. While the young man maintained a calm and relaxed persona, the two police officers in front of him looked at each other, exchanging looks of suspicion and disbelief. Both Leo and Hako were thinking the same thing – how could someone from 677 years ago could possibly live in the present day? Maybe Krishna's hiding something or making this up, and it's up to Leo and Hako to uncover the truth about this man before they could decide whether to trust him or not.

"Don't screw with us," Hako's stern voice broke the silence as she shot a glare of disbelief at Krishna, "I mean, really? 677 years old? Majapahit Empire? To be honest…you looked 20 to me."

"Didn't the Majapahit Empire disappeared from the face of the Earth a few hundred years ago?" Leo added.

"It did," Krishna nodded, "One of the greatest empires in Southeast Asia…and it crumbled into nothing. I was alive to see all of that in its full glory. I've also experienced a lot of things during my life…the European Crusade, World War I, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the independence of Indonesia…heck, even the war in your country with the Americans? I've been there, done that."

"Yeah?" Hako lifted her eyebrows, still not believing any word that Krishna is saying, "Any proof of that, ancient boy?"

Krishna sighed, "I thought you guys have when through my belongings. What did you find other than my Driver and my card holder?"

"A wallet," Leo replied, "Want me to fetch it from Evidence?"

"Do so," Krishna nodded.

Leo immediately stood up and left the interrogation room, leaving behind Hako and Krishna to their own devices. Another awkward silence fell over the room, with Hako still shooting a suspicious glare at Krishna, the man in question being unfazed as he acted as relaxed and calm as ever.

"You know," Krishna broke the silence, a mischievous smile on his face, "For a girl as pretty as you, you should get a boyfriend easily."

"Shut up, Casanova," Hako scoffed, "I have work commitments."

"I see," Krishna nodded, his naughty grin still on his face, "To be honest, I haven't seen that much girls with large breasts like yours."

"Say that again and I'm going to teach you the definition of police brutality," Hako glared at Krishna, wiping away the mischievous grin from the young man's face.

"Okay okay," Krishna sighed, "I was only joking."

Hako was about to speak again when the interrogation room door flew open, with Leo stepping inside the room, a worn out-looking leather wallet in his right hand.

"You mean this wallet, right?" Leo asked as he once again sat in front of Krishna, showing the wallet in front of the young man's face.

"That's right," Krishna nodded, "Now go through it and take out any photographs or coins that you find."

Leo immediately did what Krishna had told him to do, going through the wallet for any photographs or coins. Much to his surprise, Leo found a number of old-looking black-and-white photographs, some of them tinted yellow due to old age. He also found a number of ancient-looking coins, some of them he had never seen before while others he had seen on all of those History textbooks that he studied through all night during high school. As an equally astonished Hako looked on, Leo took out and placed all the photographs that he had found on the table, with the coins being stacked neatly next to them.

"My God," Leo gasped as he saw the photographs in front of them, "All of these photographs…they seemed old…but all of them…"

"…has Krishna in it," Hako added, her face clearly has shock written all over it.

"Told you so," Krishna grinned, "And just to make sure, you're free to send those coins to your lab team to analyze their age. The result will astonish you."

Leo nodded, "Alright then. Hako, could you bring these coins to the lab, please?"

"Sure thing," Hako replied, picking up the coin stacks before making her way out of the interrogation room.

With Hako gone, another moment of silence washed over the room, but this time less awkward compared to the first two. Leo cleared his throat, a part of his mind starting to believe what Krishna had told him, but his instinct told him not to trust Krishna just yet. Apparently Krishna could sense that Leo still has his doubts on whether to trust him or not, so he decided that it's time for him to convince Leo even further.

"Even though the coins are indeed from ancient times, you probably still won't believe me," Krishna said, breaking the silence once again, "You'd probably think me as an ancient coin collector or something."

"How do you know that?!" Leo gasped, surprised at how Krishna managed to guess what's going on in his mind quickly.

"Just my intuition," Krishna chuckled, before putting up his serious demeanor once again, "So how about this. After this interrogation, you're going to take a blood sample of me. Run it against every existing database in the world…I believe you police have one, right? Since recording started probably around…let's just say early 20th century, coinciding with the time blood banks were first founded. Since my blood hasn't been recorded in any database known to man, it'll come up negative."

"You got yourself a deal," Leo said, "I'll take some of your blood in the infirmary after the interrogation process."

"Thanks," Krishna smiled, "Then you'll believe me, right?"

Leo lets out a smile as well, "You're a good man, Krishna, I believe that. Even though your origins are dubious, I could clearly see your intent to protect people during your fight with the Unrecorded Lifeform. It's just…the jurisdiction of the city's safety is at the hands of the police. The public would question our effectiveness should someone other than the police are doing a better job than us in the field."

"It's okay, I get that a lot," Krishna said, letting out a slight chuckle, "The duty of the police is to protect a city's citizens, right? But sadly in the cities that I visited during my journey, the police couldn't handle the Maojins no matter what equipment they had, what strategy that they've came up with, or what amount of personnel that they have. I was the only one who could defeat the Maojins, and that irked the police a lot. They see me as someone who could replace them, not someone who they could work together with. That's why…"

"…they arrested you and they kicked you out of their city, isn't that so?" Leo guessed.

Krishna nodded.

"Don't worry," Leo said, "I believe in you. The arresting you part is just part of the protocol, but I do see you as a solution to our problems. You see…these…Maojins, right?"

"Yeah. Maojins," Krishna said, "But if you use Unrecorded Lifeforms as a code for them, you're okay to stick with them."

"Right," Leo nodded, "For the past few months, these Unrecorded Lifeforms have wreak havoc all across Ho Chi Minh City. They destroyed property, killed innocents, and caused wanton destruction all over the city. And the police got their hands full in handling them. Bullets won't affect them. Explosives could barely faze them. It's like we're facing an unstoppable force here. And then you showed up. A simple man in an armor who managed to blew up one of these creatures with a single kick. If I'm the one calling the shots here, I would ask for your cooperation on the spot without having to go through the hassle of arresting you. Especially in front of my sister like that…"

"Your sister?" Krishna lifted his eyebrows.

"The girl who recorded your fight," Leo continues his story, "She's been interested in researching these Unrecorded Lifeforms, to show the people of our city that there are creatures other than humans who walk among us. To be honest…we the police often cover up our campaign against the Unrecorded Lifeforms since it would cause mass hysteria in the general public, but they're getting more and more suspicious in every passing day. We can't use excuses like…school riots, training exercises, or even terrorist attacks to cover up what we're doing here. Again, since I'm not calling the shots here, I couldn't do anything. And I sincerely hope that my sister's exploits would expose this threat to the people of Saigon. But of course because of the higher ups I need to act like the police doesn't want my sister's group to be too nosy about this. But I do really hope that your appearance would finally change things, especially after my sister has defended you so much during your arrest."

Krishna's mind soon replayed the moment when he was arrested, when Steffi tried to vouch for his innocence, but he ended up getting arrested anyway.

"You owe her a lot of explanation, huh?" Krishna smirked.

"I do," Leo sighed, "If only the higher ups would be more transparent about these issues…"

At the same time, the interrogation room door flew open as Hako stepped inside, the young woman clearly looking surprised at how well her partner and Krishna are bonding with each other.

"Whoa," Hako gasped as she saw Leo and Krishna conversing with each other, "You two got along quite well, huh?"

"Hako," Leo called for his partner, motioning her to sit next to him, "Guess what? Maybe we could trust this man after all."

"Eh?" Hako blinked as she sat next to Leo, "How come?"

Leo told Hako in detail about the discussion that he had with Krishna, with the young woman nodding several times in understanding. She too, like Leo, believes that the police should be more transparent about the Maojin problems, and also sees Krishna as a solution to the problem instead as a nuisance for the police. Like her partner, she also believes that with Krishna won't replace the police, he will merely lend his strength to them in hopes that together they would vanquish the Maojin threat.

"Sorry about what happened to you," Hako said after she heard what Leo had told her, "Not all police officers are as understanding as we do."

"It's okay," Krishna nodded, "It's only natural for them to think that I'm a competition instead of a helper. It's their duty to protect the people and I have no right to question that. And I'm sorry about the whole…you know."

"Apology accepted," Hako smiled, "Things were kinda tense between us earlier, so it's kinda appropriate for you to crack things up with jokes…but remember, no more dirty jokes, okay?"

"You got my word," Krishna said, giving Hako a thumbs up to which the young woman replied with a thumbs up of her own too.

"So anyway," Leo said, his eyes glancing at the buckle and card holder in front of them, "Care to explain these?"

"These are the devices that I use to transform into my warrior form," Krishna explained as he picked up the buckle, "This is the ScanDriver. It's my primary transformation device. It serves to channel the power of the Maojin Cards that I have so that I could use them to their full potential in battle."

"Maojin…Cards?" Hako asked.

Krishna continues his explanation, "Maojin Cards are the sealed form of the Maojins. When you defeat one, its remains will be sealed inside a card. If I have it, I could use their powers in battle. But if another Maojin has it…well, let's just say you'll be facing the Maojin in that card again soon enough."

Both Leo and Hako nodded. That explains why even though a few Maojins were successfully taken down with great effort, they'll always come back since the police didn't even bother to pick up their remains.

"How much do you know about these Unrecorded Lifeforms?" Leo asked.

"Unfortunately, despite fighting them for a while, I don't know that much," Krishna sighed, disappointed that he couldn't help the two officers in front of him despite his experience, "But one thing's for sure. They're ancient creatures, beings from our own planet, who seek destruction in order to revive an important figure in their hierarchy."

"Wait, I think this rings a bell," Hako said suddenly, "A teacher in the academy once told me that Japan had faced something like this before during the years 1999 and 2000. His best friend, Kaoru Ichijo, has dealt with a similar race of creatures in Japan, a race of creatures who would destroy everything and kill anything to please the highest member of that race's hierarchy. Could the same thing is happening here in Vietnam?"

"Probably," Krishna nodded slowly, "When I came here, my partner told me that the Maojins from all over the world are converging here in Southern Vietnam. Something important to them must be attracting them here."

"Wait, did you say partner?" Leo asked, clearly surprised by what Krishna said, "But we only saw you fighting that creature by yourself."

"That's because I told my partner to park my motorcycle somewhere safe," Krishna replied, before letting out a worried sigh, "And then you guys arrested me. Man, Karin must be worried sick right now…"

"Don't worry," Leo placed his hand on Krishna's right shoulder, patting it to ease the man's worries, "You'll get in touch with your partner soon. Would you like some hot chocolate to calm yourself down?"

"That'll be great," Krishna nodded.

"Super," Leo smiled, before he turned his attention towards Hako, "Hako, could you make some hot drinks for the three of us? I'll have coffee and this lad here will have chocolate. You can make yourself tea if you want to."

 **xxx**

Outside the interrogation room, Steffi, Kim, and Vy waited anxiously in their seats for any progress in the interrogation. They had followed Leo and Hako's squad car to the HCMCPD HQ building and once they got there they demanded that they could be given an opportunity to see Krishna, but unfortunately they were told to wait until the interrogation process is over. So, in order to kill time during the entire interrogation process, the trio had decided to stick around at a waiting room located near the interrogation room, hoping that they could see Krishna after he had finished his interrogation.

For the past hour or so, Vy has been playing with her Nintendo DS, while Kim has her eyes fixed on a K-drama marathon playing on a nearby television. Steffi, on the other hand, lied herself down on the waiting room's rather sizeable sofa, her thoughts still occupied in trying to comprehend today's events. Sure, chasing cryptids and investigating strange happenings in the city were something that Steffi usually does, in between her other daily activities, of course. But something about the warrior that defeated the Eagle Maojin earlier today struck a familiar cord in her mind. Even though she had never met that warrior before, there's a sense of familiarity that emanates from the warrior that reminded Steffi of something from her past. But what was it?

And then it hits her.

"Guys," Steffi said as she sat up on the sofa, attracting the attentions of Kim and Vy, "Do you guys still remember about that dream of mine?"

"That dream?" Kim lifted her eyebrows, "You mean the dream that made you form our Supernatural Investigation Group?"

"Yeah," Steffi nodded, "In case you guys had forgotten about it, I'll remind you guys again…"

 **xxx**

 _A younger-looking Steffi stood inside the burning ruins of a building, with debris scattered everywhere around her with bodies lying among them, all of them burnt and bloodied, some of them even multilated. As a frightened Steffi looked around at her surroundings, her mind instinctively searched for the people that she cherished the most – her parents and her older brother._

" _Mama? Papa? Anh trai?"_ _Steffi called out, using the Vietnamese for older brother as she called out for him, "Where are you?"_

" _They're all dead."_

 _Gasping in shock, Steffi turned around to see a black humanoid themed after a bat slowly walking up towards her. Blood red teeth adorned the humanoid's mouth, while its eyes are glowing in a sickly reddish-orange color._

" _I've killed everyone in this building…including that family of yours," the humanoid said as it approaches Steffi, killing intent emanating from its eyes, "And now…you're next."_

" _Don't listen to him!"_

 _Suddenly something…or someone crashed through the ceiling above both Steffi and the bat humanoid, creating a small cloud of dust that obscured their view for a few seconds. As Steffi coughed away the dust surrounding her, she noticed glimpses of white light glowing in front of her, still obscured by the dust. Thankfully the dust cleared away a few seconds later, allowing Steffi to see the being in front of her in full view._

 _It was another humanoid, this time more refined in shape and covered entirely in a shining white glow. Its head was vaguely shaped like a unicorn's, complete with the iconic horn, with two glowing orange bug-like eyes, while a jagged, disc-like object is seen on the humanoid's back._

 _Slowly the humanoid turned its head around, its orange eyes looking at Steffi's black eyes. The young girl could easily feel the calm and reassurance that the humanoid is projecting towards her._

" _Don't worry," the humanoid said in a male voice, his voice surprisingly similar to Krishna's, "Your family is safe. I've taken them out of the building before I came here. I can assure you, you'll see your family soon enough."_

 _Steffi nodded slowly._

" _Now be a good girl and stand back. This might get dangerous," the humanoid continued._

 _Steffi obliged, immediately stepping away from the two humanoids as she made her way towards a nearby pillar, hiding behind it. She then slowly peeked out unnoticed, still amazed at the glowing white humanoid that had just saved her life._

" _Who are you?!" growled the bat humanoid, clearly angered that someone had ruined its fun, "How dare you interrupt my party?!"_

" _My name is Voyager," the glowing humanoid introduced himself, pointing his thumb at himself before pointing at the bat humanoid with his index finger, "My light shall judge your evil!"_

 **xxx**

"And until this second, I still believe in the bottom of my heart, that the warrior in my dreams is real and is out there, saving lives and protecting the innocent," Steffi finished her story, "And that is why I formed our Supernatural Investigation Group…inspired by this warrior of my dreams and the Kamen Riders in the world, I'm determined to do all that I can to help them in their mission to protect peace in this world, at least here in Vietnam. And to be honest…I still couldn't believe that the two of you would willingly jump into this mess of an organization that I made."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" Kim smiled, "We know that you couldn't do this by yourself. In order to help out with your cause, you'll need my street smarts and Vy's brains, right?"

"That's right," Vy added, "The three of us have been best friends since junior high and we'll do our best to support you no matter how ridiculous your goal is, because we know that you're doing all of this with good intentions. You wouldn't be yourself right now without our help, right?"

"Thanks guys," Steffi blushed, touched by her friends' selfless actions towards her, "Actually, I'm telling you guys about my dream because…I think the guy that we saw today…he's that warrior from my dream."

"Really?" both Kim and Vy gasped, their eyes going wide.

Steffi nodded, "I think so. But I need to make sure whether that Voyager guy is really the one from my dream or not. Because even though his voice and the vibes that he's giving off are familiar to me, he looks completely different from the one in my dream."

"That's true," Vy added, "You did say that the warrior in your dream was themed after a unicorn, while the one that we saw today was based on a Japanese rhinoceros beetle."

"Could it be that he's able to change forms?" Kim wondered.

Before anyone could say another word, the interrogation room door flew open, with Hako stepping out of it. Immediately the policewoman was hounded by Steffi, Vy, and Kim much to her surprise.

"Hey girls," Hako grinned uneasily as she found herself surrounded by the trio, "You three are still here?"

"Yeah, we were waiting until the interrogation is over," Steffi replied, "Speaking of which, are you done interrogating that Voyager guy?"

"Unfortunately no," Hako shook her head, "But the good news is, we're going to finish soon. I'm just heading out to the pantry to make ourselves some hot drinks. You girls want some?"

"Nah, we're good," Kim replied, her eyes glancing at a nearby vending machine, "We've got our refreshments stocked up neatly in this room."

"Glad to know that you're all doing well here," Hako smiled, "Sorry for making you three wait though…but as soon as we're done with Voyager, you three are allowed to see him."

"Thanks, Hako," Steffi winked, which Hako replied with a wink of her own as the policewoman left the trio.

 **xxx**

Outside the HCMCPD HQ complex, a shadowy figure slowly emerged out from the nearby bushes, its fiery red eyes staring at the police department building in front of him. A familiar looking ancient lighter was on the figure's right hand, the figure's thumb opening and closing the lighter repeatedly.

"The time has almost come," the figure said, revealing himself as the fiery redhead known as Devil, "In a few minutes, this city will be nothing but ashes."

Despite his conspicuous attire, Devil managed to blend himself perfectly with society, to the point of him being able to enter the HCMCPD HQ grounds without raising any suspicion. To the police officers stationed around the building's premises, Devil was just another ordinary citizen who probably came to the police department building to report a crime or to testify against a criminal suspect detained inside the building.

Little did they know, Devil has a different intention, a much more malicious one.

As he approached the HCMCPD HQ building, Devil took a quick glance at the night sky above him. Today was a full moon, with the celestial object emanating a haunting white glow that contrasts the pitch black sky, a beautiful sight indeed.

"With the moon as the witness, today shall be this city's last," Devil spoke to no one in particular as he looked up at the moon above him, before he turned his attention towards the police department building in front of him, "And your fiery judgement begins…now."

 **xxx**

"AAAAAARRRRGGGGH!"

A loud woman's scream echoed throughout the HCMCPD HQ building, startling everyone inside. Steffi, Vy, and Kim were caught off guard by that scream and were clearly shocked by it.

"What the heck was that?" Kim gasped, "It's like a freaking banshee was set loose here!"

And then without warning, the building's fire alarm began to blare, sending every police officer in the building into high alert. Immediately police officers began to swarm the corridors around the waiting room, all of them heading towards the same direction. Knowing that something bad is happening, Steffi decided to ask a nearby police officer as he marched past the waiting room.

"Excuse me, what's going on here?" Steffi asked.

"There's a fire alert at the pantry," the police officer replied, "Every police officer in this building are required to respond to it immediately."

"Thanks," Steffi said, earning a nod from the officer before he went off towards duty.

"Well? What happened?" Kim asked as Steffi returned to her group, her face indicating sheer worry.

"There's a fire at the pantry," Steffi replied, her voice sounded grim, "And Hako's in there…"

"Hako?!" Kim and Vy gasped.

Steffi nodded, "I'm going there to help her. You girls coming?"

"Of course!" Vy replied, punching through the waiting room's emergency console and grabbing a fire extinguisher from it, "We'll bring this with us so that we could help the police officers in putting out the fire."

"Nice. Let's go!"

As Steffi, Kim, and Vy ran out of the waiting room, at the same time the interrogation room door flew open once again, revealing a panicking Leo who was shocked by the sight of Steffi and her friends in front of him.

"You three are still here?" Leo gasped.

"No time to explain, bro," Steffi said, "There's a fire at the pantry and Hako's in there. We figure that we could lend those police officers a hand."

"But…"

"Don't worry," Steffi interrupted, knowing that her brother is concerned for the group's safety, "We'll be able to take care of ourselves."

"I know, I know," Leo nodded, "It's just…Hako…she's still inside the pantry…what if she got burned or something…"

"Your partner's going to be fine," Krishna said as he came out from the interrogation room, patting Leo on his shoulder, "I'm coming too. Something tells me that this is no ordinary fire."

 **xxx**

The HCMCPD HQ's pantry was located at the back of the building, which required a 5 minute walk through the corridors to reach it. As soon as Leo, Krishna, and Steffi's group reached the pantry's entrance, they were greeted by a policeman being thrown across the corridor by a powerful force.

"Holy fuck!" Leo swore as he and his group ducked, the policeman flying over their heads as his body slammed itself against a nearby wall, knocking the policeman out. Leo's eyes glanced at the unconscious policeman's body, before he glanced at the cracks that the impact had created on the wall. A feeling of shock soon overwhelmed the young officer's body and mind, as he immediately knew that he's dealing with something bad here.

"Look!" Steffi gasped, pointing at the pantry as everyone looked at the direction that she's pointing at.

What they saw inside the pantry was shocking. While the pantry fire has been reduced into several small clusters of flames that pose no threat whatsoever, it's the sight of Hako literally beating her fellow officers into submission that surprises Leo, Steffi, Kim, and Vy the most. Krishna, however, kept his calm, as he knew exactly what's going on here.

"Hako!" Leo called out as he barged into the pantry, "What are you doing? Control yourself! This isn't you!"

Tossing away two badly bruised and beaten police officers, Hako slowly turned around towards Leo, her face contorted unnaturally into an expression of permanent anger while her eyes glowed an unnatural orange, glaring daggers at her shocked partner.

It was then Krishna noticed something on Hako's right wrist. It was a glowing orange tattoo, shaped like a card with a Komodo dragon on a fiery background etched on it.

"I don't know what's going on here," Leo spoke again, trying to talk sense to his enraged partner, "But can we settle this the civilized way? With words instead of fists?"

Hako could only let out a feral growl in response to Leo's words, her fists clenched tightly as she opened her mouth, a strange orange glow appearing from her throat. Seeing the incoming danger, Krishna immediately tackled Leo to the ground.

"Watch out!"

Steffi, Kim, and Vy ducked out of the way as Hako let loose a stream of flames from her throat, scorching a good portion of the corridor in front of the pantry. As she stood up, Steffi looked at Hako in sheer disbelief, her mind still unable to comprehend the fact that a few seconds ago Hako had literally breathed fire.

An equally distraught Leo was helped back to his feet by Krishna, the young police officer still not believing what had just happened.

"Hako…" Leo muttered as he saw his partner continuing her rampage, punching through several cupboards before knocking aside several other police officers who tried to restrain her.

"It's no use trying to talk to her," Krishna said, "She's already being possessed by a Maojin."

"Possessed?" Leo's eyes went wide.

Krishna nodded, "Even though Maojins could live without a human host, they couldn't achieve their full strength and potential without one. So they usually transform themselves into their card form and attach themselves to the nearest human that they could find, in this case, your partner. Usually their presence is indicated by a tattoo resembling their card form etched on the part of body where the Maojin had latched itself onto."

"Is there any way that we can save my partner?" Leo asked.

"Don't worry," Krishna gave Leo a reassuring smile, "I'll put all of my best effort in bringing your partner back. Now, stand back, because this might get dangerous."

Upon hearing Krishna's last few words, a moment of realization dawned upon Steffi.

" _There's no mistake!_ " Steffi thought, " _That man is indeed the warrior from my dream!_ "

Immediately after taking Leo out of pantry, Krishna confronted the possessed Hako, a look of determination on his face.

"Yo!" Krishna called out, gaining the attention of the possessed Hako as she tosses aside a police officer that she had just knocked out, "Leave these people alone. It's me that you wanted, right? Isn't that so…Ace of Swords?"

The possessed Hako lets out an evil smirk, before a distorted laugh escaped her mouth, her voice sounding like a mix of her usual voice and a deep, demonic male voice.

"As I expect from the man bearing the title of Voyager," the possessed Hako chuckled, "I was only tasked with laying this city to waste, but having Voyager presented himself to be slaughtered…my fellow Fire Tribesmen are going to be impressed! I, the Ace of Swords, the one who will end the bane to our existence!"

"Heh, good luck with that," Krishna smirked, "Now hand over the girl to me and then we can have our battle."

The possessed Hako chuckled again, this time in a much more sinister way that sends chills down the spines of everyone watching with the exception of Krishna, "You think I'm going to hand over this girl easily? No way. I'm using this girl's body for my advantage. I wanted to see the look on the faces of this city's people when a beloved policeman of their city, a symbol of peace and justice of Ho Chi Minh City, becomes the one who will reduce their beloved city into ashes. Oh I could imagine the satisfaction of seeing their terrified faces!"

"I won't let you have your way with this city!" Krishna yelled as he prepared to take out his ScanDriver from his jacket pocket, only for the possessed Hako to shoot a small fireball at him from her right hand, startling Krishna as the fireball struck the ground near his feet.

"Ah ah ah, can't have us fighting here, right?" the possessed Hako lets out an evil grin as her eyes glanced at the unconscious police officers around them, "There are a lot of people here in this room and if we fight…you don't want to have any collateral damage, do you?"

Krishna was taken aback by the possessed Hako's words. Throughout his crusade against the Maojins, collateral damage is something that he does best to avoid, especially after what had happened 108 years ago…

"Besides, it'll be a waste of time if we fight here," the possessed Hako continued, firing a couple of fireballs at the nearby wall. The wall broke apart upon being hit by the fireballs, creating a hole sizeable enough for the possessed Hako to step through, "Now if you excuse me, I have a city to burn."

As Krishna and the others watched on, the possessed Hako steps out from the hole that she had just created, before making a dash towards the HQ complex's car park. There, she picked out one out of the many police cars being parked there, ripping out its door with ease before taking control of the vehicle for herself. As the possessed Hako hotwired the car into life, its wheels began to set fire due to the Maojin influence inside Hako, while the car's engine began to emit smoke as well.

Seconds later, as Krishna, Leo, Steffi, Kim, and Vy stepped out from the hole that the possessed Hako had created, they were treated with the sight of a burning police car speeding out of the complex, heading straight towards downtown Ho Chi Minh City.

"Shit, she's gotten herself a ride and now she's heading straight for the city," Leo bit his lower lip in frustration, "How are we supposed to catch her? She's driving like a madman!"

"Don't worry," Krishna said, "My instincts told me that my partner has finally discovered my location. She should be here with my ride in any second."

Suddenly, as if on cue, a black Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R leaped into the HQ complex, surprising the policemen at the gates who were already surprised by the possessed Hako's burning police car crashing through the complex's gates on her way out. The motorcycle sped through the HQ complex towards the direction of Krishna's group, pulling itself to a stop once it got near them.

The motorcycle's rider was clad in dark colors, similar to Krishna, with a black T-shirt, black leather jacket, dark blue denim jeans, and black boots. The rider also wore Krishna's jet black helmet. But unlike Krishna, the rider has a shorter and rather chubby build.

"Man, I've been looking for you everywhere!" the rider said, revealing herself as a 20-year old woman as she took off her helmet. The young woman has lightly tanned skin and shoulder-length straight black hair tied into a ponytail, with a large bang over her forehead. A pair of rectangle-framed glasses completed the woman's look.

"Sorry about that, Karin," Krishna said sheepishly, "I have some business that needs to be done with the coppers here."

Karin sighed, "You always found new ways to get yourself arrested, huh?"

"Is this your partner?" Leo asked.

"Yes," Krishna smiled, "Karin, meet…what's your name again? We didn't have our proper introduction during the interrogation process."

"Pham Minh Tuan," Leo introduced himself, "Just call me Leo."

"Pham Vu To Quyen," Steffi introduced herself, nudging her brother with her elbow playfully, "This guy's sister."

"Nguyen Thanh Thao Vy," Vy introduced herself.

"And I'm Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan," Kim introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you all," Karin smiled, "My name Karin, and I'm pretty sure you've met my partner Krishna."

"Nice to meet you guys," Krishna said, letting out a smile as well before immediately assuming his serious demeanor again, "We have an emergency here."

"What is it?" Karin asked.

"A Maojin has possessed the body of a policewoman here and she had just stolen a police car and headed downtown," Krishna briefed Karin about the current situation, "Do you think I could catch up with her? You can't miss her, she literally set her car on fire."

"Wait, you mean that burning car that I saw on my way here is a Maojin?!" Karin gasped, before she immediately hands Krishna her helmet, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! She couldn't have gone far."

"Righty-o," Krishna nodded, accepting the helmet from Karin and putting it on his head before he sat down on the motorcycle's seat, "Thanks for taking care of my motorcycle, Karin. You can go back now."

Karin nodded as her body glowed white, before she literally disintegrated into white particles much to the shock of Leo and the others. The particles turned themselves into a card, the unicorn-themed High Priestess card to be exact. Karin's card form flew immediately into Krishna's waiting hand, before the young man pockets her immediately into his jacket.

"So your partner is…" Steffi said, still shocked from what she had just saw.

"Long story," Krishna cuts in, sliding down his helmet's visor, "You guys coming?"

"Of course!" Leo replied, "Hako's my partner and I'll do anything to make sure that she comes back safely."

"We also need to film this battle too," Steffi added, with Kim and Vy nodding in unison, "I mean two cryptids in one day and we've got to see you fight twice? We'd be kicking ourselves if we miss that!"

Krishna smiled underneath his helmet, "Right. Leo, are your police cars equipped with tracking chips?"

"Yes, they are," Leo answered.

"Good," Krishna said, "I hope the fire hadn't melted it, so that you guys could track down where the possessed girl is going."

"Besides, if that chip gets damaged, I could always call on my fellow police officers out there to help us track down my partner," Leo added.

"Excellent," Krishna smiled as he revved his motorcycle's engine, "Catch with you guys up later."

And with that Krishna rode away from the HQ complex, leaving behind Leo, Steffi, Kim, and Vy to themselves.

"We better go as well," Steffi said, "Should we fetch our car?"

"No, we'll use a squad car of mine," Leo told Steffi, pointing at his beloved Subaru, parked among the HQ complex's many police cars nearby, "Besides, we're gonna need some police equipment if we want to track Hako down."

As Steffi and her friends settled themselves into Leo's squad car, the police officer in question took out his walkie-talkie, establishing communication with every available police cars on patrol throughout Ho Chi Minh City.

"This is Officer Pham Minh Tuan reporting to all available on-duty police cars throughout Ho Chi Minh City," Leo spoke to his walkie-talkie, "Requesting assistance in tracking down an Officer Dao Ngoc Phuong Anh, she's currently driving a…you won't believe me if I say this…a burning police car somewhere in the city. If any of you came across a burning police car somewhere in the city, please let me know. And if Officer Phuong is present, you are welcome to engage in order to stun. But be warned – Officer Phuong is armed and dangerous, I repeat, Officer Phuong is armed and dangerous. Over."

 **xxx**

 _ **Binh Thanh District**_

At another part of Ho Chi Minh City, a large skyscraper stood proudly at the heart of the city's Binh Thanh District. Its futuristic, metallic appearance, gleaming underneath the moonlight, indicates that the structure had been recently built, about two years ago to be exact. Standing at a staggering 200 meters, the Lotus Industries Tower (LIT) is the headquarters of Lotus Industries, one of Vietnam's top technological companies that develop and manufactures advanced weapon and defense technologies for the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) members. It was the second tallest building in the city, only being dwarfed by the more famous Bitexco Financial Tower.

This massive skyscraper has 55 floors and 3 levels of underground parking, with the first 5 floors being used as a shopping mall and convention center, while the next 47 floors were used as office spaces. The final top 3 floors were used as the personal residence and office of Le Thao Minh, Lotus Industries' 19-year old chairwoman, a surprising feat considering her age, but not too surprising since her family had started up the company from scratch.

Living along with Minh in the LIT penthouse floors was Vo Hieu Thao, Minh's 20-year old personal assistant and childhood friend, who had lived with her since the two of them were still young, since Thao's family had worked under Minh's ever since Lotus Industries was founded. Rounding off the inhabitants was 22-year old Tran Phuong Trang, a close friend of Minh's and Thao's. Tran has been suffering from a rare form of brain cancer since she was young, being taken underneath Lotus Industries' care by Minh's late father who hoped that the company's technology would be sufficient to halt the cancer's progression and eventually cure it. When Minh's father died mysteriously and the company's chair position went towards Minh, she was more than determined to continue her father's noble mission in saving her friend.

Right now Tran was up and awake at her room on the lowest floor of the penthouse. It was a decent-looking room, medium in size with a pale brown paintjob and a window that overlooks the Ho Chi Minh City skyline. A number of sophisticated medical instruments were seen around Tran's bed, all of them designed to monitor her condition 24/7. A flat-screen TV was present in front of Tran's bed, to keep the young woman from being bored. Minh even bought her an XBOX and a DVD player just in case Tran couldn't find any good programs to watch on her TV.

But despite all of that, Tran never felt quite entertained in her room. Despite her condition, her spirit is quite adventurous, meaning that she could only find true happiness by exploring the city, finding new places, getting to know its people and enjoying its sights. Thankfully both Minh and Thao are quite understanding of her and allowed her to go out by herself once in a while, on the condition that she has her iPhone with her at all times. That way, both Minh and Thao could keep an eye on her easily, especially with the many appointment with doctors that Tran had to attend on a single week.

And tonight was one of those nights when Tran felt that she could have some fresh air outside.

Gently unhooking herself from the equipment on her bedside and pocketing her iPhone into her medical robe, Tran slowly snuck out of her room and into the vacant corridors of the penthouse. With only three people inhabiting the three-floored penthouse, things could get pretty silent during nighttime when everyone's asleep, and tonight was no exception. At this time Minh's fast asleep in her room on the penthouse's third floor, while Thao is probably in her own room located next to Tran's. The elevator that separates the penthouse from the rest of the world is located near Tran and Thao's room, with the latter being her only "obstacle" in sneaking out of this penthouse.

As Tran tip-toed her way past Thao's room, she could hear faint cheering from inside it.

" _Shit!_ " Tran cursed in her thoughts.

She should have known better. Its mid-week, meaning that UEFA Champions League football is currently underway. Thao's a big supporter of Spain's FC Barcelona, with posters of players such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez being displayed in full force on her room's walls. Right now Barcelona were playing Borussia Monchengladbach of Germany in this season's Champions League group stage and there's no doubt that Thao's probably up all night watching her favorite heroes from the Camp Nou.

Cursing herself for not realizing that, Tran slowly made her way past Thao's room, when…

"Where are you going?"

Tran gasped silently as she saw Thao standing in front of her room, clad in her beloved red and blue Barcelona home jersey. It's half time now with M'gladbach holding a slender 1-0 lead after the first 45 minutes and as the players took a 15 minute break so does Thao, who decided to get some beer to drink from the nearby kitchen when she caught Tran red-handed sneaking outside of her room.

"It's late now," Thao added, "You should be in bed now."

"I know," Tran replied, "Just got bored and needed some fresh air, that's all."

"Do you have your phone with you?" Thao asked.

Tran took a quick peek into her robe's pocket, before letting out a nod, "Yeah. Minh's gonna freak out when she knows that I've been sneaking out, isn't she?"

"Don't worry, I got you covered," Thao said, "An hour and a half. No longer than that."

"Thanks," Tran said sheepishly, "What's the score, by the way?"

"What score?" Thao blinked, before she realized what Tran was talking about, "Oh that. Barca are 1-0 down at half time now. A real shocker that was. But then again, I still believe my Blaugrana boys will bounce back from this!"

"Have fun then," Tran said as she slowly made her way towards the elevator, "All the best for your team, ne?"

Thao nodded, before bidding Tran goodbye with a wave as the short-haired young woman entered the elevator before disappearing from Thao's sight.

 **xxx**

Tran stood silently inside the elevator as it descended down the LIT, the calming melody of the elevator's background music the only sound in her ears right now. But just as the elevator had descended past the LIT's 30th floor, a burning sensation suddenly began to emerge from the back of Tran's right hand. Slowly Tran took out her right hand from her robe pocket, gasping in horror as she saw the tattoo engraved on the back of her right hand glowing an eerie orange.

" _ **Going out again, I see?**_ " suddenly a sinister male voice echoed inside Tran's head.

"What do you want?" Tran asked, her annoyed tone indicates that she's all too familiar with the presence inside her head right now.

" _ **If that's so, please let me out again**_ ," the voice replied calmly and sinisterly.

"No," Tran shook her head, "I've already let you out this afternoon. I'm just going out for some fresh air, that's all. I don't want to raise any suspicion if I let you out again."

" _ **Tran, Tran, Tran**_ ," the male voice said, " _ **Do you still remember our agreement? I'll keep your cancer at bay and in return, you will allow me to go out whenever I want to**_."

Tran sighed. Even though her cancer has ravaged through her body badly, the presence inside her body has been keeping the cancerous cells inside her body in check, allowing her to live well into her early twenties despite her condition. And she knew all too well, what would happen if she refused the demands of the presence within her.

" _ **Another one of my kind has been awakened**_ ," the voice said again, " _ **And I'm also sensing…the person responsible for your friend's sorrow…he's here**_."

"The person…responsible…for…Minh's sadness?" Tran asked, knowing all too well about what the presence is talking about. Despite her strong-willed nature, Minh sometimes confides to Tran about how much she misses her departed father and how she would do anything to find out the truth about her father's death.

" _ **That's right**_ ," the voice snickered, " _ **Now let me take over and I promise you…your friend will be a happier person than she is right now**_."

Tran nodded reluctantly, before seconds afterwards a black and orange glow erupted from her body, causing the elevator's lights to flicker on and off several times. Black liquid seeped out from the tattoo on the back of Tran's right hand, the liquid slowly but surely engulfing the young woman's body. As Tran was covered from head to toe with the black liquid, an orange glow began to emanate from where her eyes was, the black liquid covering Tran's eyes retracting away to reveal a piercing orange visor-like eye, with silver highlighting around it.

Black grid lines began to appear on Tran's chest, head, shoulders, forearms, shins, thighs, waist, ankles, feet, and hands, before the lines materializing themselves into black armor as the liquid covering Tran's body solidified itself into a black bodysuit. Tran's head was now covered in a _Tyrannosaurus_ -themed helmet, metallic in appearance but at the same time organic in nature. The helmet was pitch-black in color, with an orange visor-like eye, silver highlighting, a pair of horn-like protrusions on the ears, and a silver mouth-guard with serrated teeth etched onto it. The armoring on Tran's shoulders resembled _Tyrannosaurus_ skulls, colored black with orange "eyes" and silver highlights. Tran's chest armor was circular in shape, with five orange bulbs forming a star-pattern on it. Serrated black armor with silver highlights adorn Tran's forearms and shins, while her thighs were also covered in black armor, with black, skirt-like armoring with orange and silver highlights protected Tran's waist area. A pair of sinister black boots adorned Tran's feet, while her hands were equipped with razor-sharp nails on her fingers.

As the elevator reached the ground floor of the LIT, what emerged from it was no longer Tran, but a black and silver monstrosity, emitting deep breathing noises as it stepped out of the elevator.

"It's good to be out again," the transformed Tran said, this time with the same sinister male's voice as the one inside the young woman's head.

The transformed Tran slowly walked out of the LIT, vanishing into the darkness of the night.

 **xxx**

 _ **District 4**_

" _And if Officer Phuong is present, you are welcome to engage in order to stun. But be warned – Officer Phuong is armed and dangerous, I repeat, Officer Phuong is armed and dangerous. Over_."

"This is Officer Mai Thy Dinh Vu patrolling Nguyen Tat Thanh Road, copy that. I'll be on the lookout for the suspicious vehicle that you've described."

Patrolling inside her trusted Subaru Impreza (the standard model for HCMCPD's police cars), 20-year old Mai Thy Dinh Vu kept her eyes on the lookout for any signs of Hako's burning police car, just as Leo had told everyone on duty to do so. Deep down, she felt concerned for her friend's wellbeing – Thy did graduated from the academy around the same time as Hako, and the two had been quite close since their academy days. Especially when Leo told her that if she encountered Hako, she's welcome to engage her or even stun her and the fact that Hako is armed and dangerous right now…something's going on with Hako and Thy's more than determined to get to the bottom of this.

" _Hako…what's going on with you right now?_ " Thy thought as she traveled along the quiet Nguyen Tat Thanh Road, " _I hope you're okay…_ "

Thy was just your average young woman, with a medium, rather athletic, and healthy build, not too fat but at the same time not too skinny. Her skin is an exotic light tan with shoulder-length black, curly hair. Like Leo and Hako, she's currently wearing the typical olive green uniform of the HCMCPD.

As Thy approaches a four-way intersection, suddenly a large explosion erupted from a nearby building, attracting the police woman's attention.

"Not again," Thy sighed. She had been stationed to District 4 early this afternoon after Voyager's fight against the Eagle Maojin, and she had practically overseen the area's ongoing rehabilitation process from the damage caused by the Maojin's tornadoes. And now it's barely the start of the second day of the rebuilding and already there's another incident on the district.

Driving towards the source of the explosion, Thy was immediately taken aback by what she saw.

A burnt-out police car was left lying on the roadside, already being reduced into a blackened frame. Burnt bodies were seen lying everywhere, while the survivors of the explosion were seen running away from a familiar figure standing in front of the exploded building, now reduced into a burning inferno.

It was Hako.

Thy watched on in disbelief as Hako fired a volley of fireballs from her hands at the fleeing survivors, striking down and killing a couple of them, before the possessed police woman turned her attention towards a nearby newsstand, abandoned by its owner a few moments after the explosion. Opening her mouth, the possessed Hako lets loose a stream of flames that incinerated the newsstand into ashes much to Thy's horror.

" _What's gotten into you, Hako?_ " Thy bit her lower lip anxiously, not sure on what should she do next. At one side she doesn't want to hurt her fellow police officer, but on the other hand she needs to act quickly before the possessed Hako could cause more casualties.

Suddenly Thy noticed two young boys, both aged around 8, huddling up together near a piece of debris. The two of them were trying to be brave for each other, but Thy could easily see that they were frightened by what had happened in front of them.

Unfortunately the possessed Hako also noticed the two boys, a wicked grin forming on her lips. With her hands ignited, the possessed Hako slowly went towards the two boys, ready to incinerate them into the afterlife.

"Two more offerings for the awakening process," the possessed Hako smirked as she aimed her lit hands at the two frightened boys.

"Hey!"

Thy immediately jumped out of her squad car and pushed the two boys away from the incoming fireballs, causing them to burn the debris piece instead. Rolling on the ground with the two boys in her arms, Thy lets out a sigh of relief as she releases her embrace, allowing the two boys to regain their composure.

"Get out of here, it's dangerous," Thy said, "Don't worry, I'm with the police. I'll take care of this. It's my duty anyway."

"Thanks, Miss," one of the boys said, a grateful smile on his face.

Thy lets out a warm smile in return, "Anytime. Now go!"

The two boys nodded before they ran off from the area, leaving Thy with the possessed Hako.

"Hako? Can you hear me?" Thy called out, attracting the attention of the possessed Hako, "Snap out of this! This isn't you!"

"Who are you?!" the possessed Hako growled, her distorted voice sending chills throughout Thy's body, "And why are you ruining my fun?!"

"You don't remember?" Thy's eyes went wide, but she's not giving up in talking some sense into Hako, "It's me, Mai Thy Dinh Vu! The two of us graduated from the academy at the same time! I'm your friend! Please snap out of this, Hako. I know that you're in there!"

The possessed Hako chuckled darkly, "The person that you call Hako is not here. I'm the Ace of Swords, the strongest of all Fire Tribe Maojins, the one who will burn this city into a wasteland. And you, insignificant human, shall feel the wrath of my flames!"

The possessed Hako shot out a fireball from her right fist, forcing Thy to roll out of the way.

"Please, Hako, listen to me!" Thy pleaded again, "This isn't you. You're a kind person, a friendly personality, someone that brighten up one's day. You're not a rampaging monster who kill and destroy everything in front of you. Whoever's possessing you right now, you can fight it!"

"SHUT UP!" the possessed Hako yelled, this time spitting out a fireball from her mouth that headed straight towards Thy, forcing the police woman to perform an acrobatic leap to avoid it.

Knowing that she couldn't get into Hako the conventional way, Thy decided that she must go for desperate measures. Slowly the police officer reached for her waist holster, taking out her trusted pistol.

" _Hako, I'm sorry, but I had to do this_!" Thy thought as she loaded her pistol.

The possessed Hako attacked again, shooting out a fireball from her left fist towards Thy. Seeing the incoming attack, Thy rolled out of the way as the fireball impacted the ground near her, before she fired off a couple of shots at the ground underneath the possessed Hako's feet, shocking the possessed police woman considerably.

"Those are my warning shots," Thy said as she stood up, pointing her pistol at the possessed Hako, "Try to attack me once again, and I'll put one through your body."

The possessed Hako growled, her glowing orange eyes glaring daggers at Thy. Once again charging up her hands with fire, the possessed Hako prepares to shoot another fireball at Thy…

…only to find out that an unseen force is preventing her to do so. The possessed Hako's body literally froze from head to toe, as if something invisible is preventing her to move, with the tattoo on her right wrist flickering on and off.

"Urgh!" the possessed Hako groaned as she tried to shoot out her fireballs, but to no avail, "Are you fighting back, woman?! How dare you!"

Thy lets out a brief smile, knowing that Hako is starting to fight back whatever's possessing her right now. But that moment of relief wouldn't last longer…

"You bitch!" the possessed Hako growled, slamming her left hand against the flickering tattoo on her right wrist, which somehow allowed whatever's possessing Hako to regain control of the young woman's body, "Much better."

With her wrist tattoo now glowing once again, the possessed Hako prepares to blast a shocked Thy with a fireball from her right fist, only for the noise of an incoming motorcycle to interrupt her. Suddenly without warning Krishna's Suzuki Hayabusa appeared out of nowhere, slamming itself against the possessed Thy's body and sending the young woman flying into a nearby wall.

"Sorry about that," Krishna said as he took off his helmet, "I hope you'll have no hard feelings against me when you're back to your normal self." The young man then turned his attention towards Thy, "You okay?"

"I'm good," Thy said, holstering her pistol once again, "Thanks."

Krishna nodded, just as Leo's police car came into the scene. Immediately Steffi and her friends assumed their positions on the sidelines, with Vy once again taking out her trusted camera to record the inevitable battle. Leo went towards a still shocked Thy, patting the young woman on the shoulders.

"You okay there, Thy?" Leo asked.

Thy nodded, "Yes, I'm fine. I've managed to save a few people here before trying to talk some sense into your partner. What's going on here?"

"Long story short, Hako got possessed by an Unrecorded Lifeform," Leo replied, before pointing at Krishna, "And that man…he's the only way to get her back."

"Eh?" Thy blinked, "How come? How could he save Hako?"

"Trust him," Leo smiled, "He'll try his best. I'm certain that he'll return Hako to us."

The possessed Hako slowly stood up, shaking her head groggily, her glowing eyes glaring at Krishna. The young man took out his ScanDriver from his jacket pocket and places it against his waist, securing the device on his waist.

"It's you and me now, Ace of Swords," Krishna said, taking out his Thunder Kabuto card, "Let's settle this!"

The possessed Hako lets out a guttural growl before roaring out wildly, fire bursting out from her entire body seconds afterwards. Enshrouded by a veil of fire, Hako's muscle mass began to expand as her head transformed itself into that of a Komodo dragon's. Her hands began to transform into a more reptilian design, with all five fingers armed with razor-sharp claws, while her feet had become reptilian as well, with three toes also armed with sharp claws. A muscular tail bursts out from Hako's rear end, slamming itself against the ground several times. Soon the fire engulfing Hako's body dissipated away, revealing a Komodo dragon-themed humanoid in her place.

The Komodo Maojin was masculine and muscular in design, colored fiery red with patches of yellow on the chin, neck, torso, and crotch. His reptilian head had a regal-looking headpiece on it, colored gold with two curved horns and a red gem embedded on the center of the headpiece. His eyes were reptilian, colored orange with the signature slit-shaped black pupils. Black armor adorn the Komodo Maojin's torso, gauntlets, and anklets, with swirling golden flame-like designs on them. The Maojin's claws were fiery orange in color, while his scales were chainmail-like in design, which, along with the torso, gauntlet, and anklet armors, provided the Komodo Maojin with some degree of durability against the elements or attacks. Pairs of curved golden spikes adorned the Maojin's back, running through his backbone, while a golden, pincer-shaped spike was present on the tip of the Komodo Maojin's tail. Last but not least, a red loincloth supported by a golden belt was present on the Maojin's waist.

"Finally you have the courage to show yourself, Ace of Swords," Krishna smirked, opening the tab on his ScanDriver.

 **READY!**

Inserting the Thunder Kabuto card into his ScanDriver, Krishna performed his usual transformation pose, placing his right hand over his right hip and crossing his left hand in front of his face.

" **Henshin!** " Krishna yelled, slamming the ScanDriver's tab shut.

 **ACE HENSHIN! THUNDER KABUTO!**

Leo, Thy, Steffi, Kim, and Vy watched on in awe as a purple ring of energy bursts out from the ScanDriver, splitting into two halves as Krishna's Voyager form came into view, all to the tune of the uplifting music played from the ScanDriver during the transformation process. After the armor pieces had assembled themselves, the eyes on Voyager's helmet flashed three times before purple lines adorn the warrior's bodysuit.

"My name is Voyager!" Voyager declared, pointing at himself with his right thumb, "I shine light in the darkness…" he then pointed at the Komodo Maojin with his right index finger, "…and I vanquish evil!"

 **(Cue BGM: Specium Zepellion no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

Voyager charged forward, punching the Komodo Maojin twice on his chest but much to the warrior's surprise, it didn't faze the kaijin at all. Voyager then performed a spinning heel kick onto the Maojin's lower jaw, before giving the creature a good knee-jerk on his right chest. But again, much to Voyager's surprise, his physical techniques did nothing other than annoying the Komodo Maojin.

"My turn," the Komodo Maojin said, smirking evilly.

The Komodo Maojin swiped his right claw towards Voyager, forcing the warrior to back away in order to avoid it. This, however, left the Komodo Maojin open to attack, allowing Voyager to land a couple of kicks onto the Maojin's torso, before following up with a couple of chops onto the Maojin's shoulders. Voyager was then forced to dodge another attack from the Komodo Maojin in the form of a swipe from the kaijin's left claw.

"Shit!" Voyager cursed as he stood up, having rolled away from the Komodo Maojin's attack only to realize that his hands were hurting from his attacks on the Maojin's thick hide.

"Giving up already?" the Komodo Maojin taunted as he made his way towards Voyager, "We're just getting started here!"

Immediately both Voyager and the Komodo Maojin grappled with each other, neither of them yielding as they were apparently equal in terms of strength. As this was going on, Vy captured everything unfolding in front of her in its full glory on her camera, as the rest of her friends watched on.

"Yesterday marked a significant day for our city," Steffi said, acting as a narrator for Vy's video, "The cryptid problem that has been plaguing Ho Chi Minh City of late had finally found its match, a mysterious warrior calling himself Voyager. Yesterday Voyager defeated an eagle-themed cryptid who had laid waste to District 4 with its tornadoes and this midnight, Voyager is currently engaging a Komodo dragon-themed cryptid who threatened to burn the entire city with its flames. Will Voyager once again come on top and save the city? Stay tuned to find out!"

The Komodo Maojin finally had enough of Voyager grappling with him, sending out a pulse of intense heat from his body into Voyager's. The intense heat emanating from the Komodo Maojin's body was too much for Voyager, forcing him to let go of his grapple on the kaijin's body. The purple and silver warrior slowly backed away from the Komodo Maojin, faint white smoke billowing from his arms and chest.

" _ **Krishna, are you okay?**_ " Karin asked as Voyager had shaken off the heat stinging his upper body.

"I'm good," Voyager replied, "But I couldn't get a dent on this guy and touching him is a horrible idea. Maybe an Overcharge would crack this tough egg open?"

" _ **Can't hurt to try**_ ," Karin said.

Nodding at his partner's words, Voyager took out his navy blue and gold Overcharge Card from his card holder, before inserting it into the slot on his right hip.

 **THUNDER OVERCHARGE!**

Voyager leapt into the air, assuming a flying side kick position as purple electricity surged from his ScanDriver and into his right boot.

" **Lightning Smash!** " Voyager called out as he went straight for the kill.

But much to Voyager's surprise, the Komodo Maojin crossed his arms in front of his face, forming a solid X that easily deflected away Voyager's Rider Kick, forcing the warrior to perform a backflip before gently landing on the ground on both feet.

 **(BGM ends)**

"Is that the best that you can do?" the Komodo Maojin scoffed as the excess energy from Voyager's Lightning Smash finisher was harmlessly dispersed by his gauntlets.

"Shit!" Steffi cursed from the sidelines at this turn of event, "Yesterday that kick was more than enough to destroy the eagle cryptid…but this time the Komodo cryptid stood up to it like it was nothing!"

"That guy's armor sure is tough," Kim commented.

Leo on the other hand bit his lower lip in anxiety, as an equally worried Thy watched on next to him.

" _Come on Voyager…_ " Leo thought, " _You're better than this! You have the power to save Hako, I believe that!_ "

"I had enough of this," the Komodo Maojin growled, flames began to form inside his mouth, "Take this!"

"Oh crap," Voyager cursed as he rolled out of the way, avoiding a stream of intense flames fired from the Komodo Maojin's mouth, the flames hot enough to melt the iron manhole cover on the ground.

But the Komodo Maojin didn't stop there. Charging more and more heat energy into his mouth, the Maojin breathed more flames at Voyager, which the purple and silver warrior managed to dodge. The same thing couldn't be said about the objects behind Voyager, though, as the flames managed to melt down a lamp post, scorch a wall, and completely reduce a nearby shop window into a gooey mess.

"Damn," Voyager muttered, "At this rate, I'm as good as toasted!"

Roaring loudly, the Komodo Maojin let loose yet another stream of flames, this time heading straight towards Steffi and her friends!

"Steffi!" Leo called out.

"Get out of there!" Thy added.

Unfortunately Steffi and her friends were too shocked to even move, leaving them open for the incoming fire stream. It was then Voyager decided that he would intervene, jumping straight into the path of the flames, shielding Steffi and her friends as the flames struck Voyager's back, burning the warrior badly.

"Gotcha now!" the Komodo Maojin laughed.

"Voyager!" Steffi called out in horror as Voyager fell to one knee, smoke billowing out from his back.

"Don't give up, Voyager!" Kim added, trying her best to encourage the burnt warrior in front of them.

"Stand up, Voyager!" Vy yelled, her camera focused at the weakened Voyager.

"You heard us!" Steffi shouted, her voice raised to the heavens, "Don't let that lizard-thing defeat you! For Hako's sake, for our sake, and for the sake of the people of our beloved city, stand up! Don't give in so easily! Don't let such an attack bring you down!"

As Steffi, Kim, and Vy kept on yelling out words of encouragement at Voyager, Leo and Thy noticed that the Komodo Maojin was slowly making his way towards the weakened Voyager, ready to finish the warrior off.

"Thy, it's our time to become this city's heroes," Leo whispered to Thy, making sure that their conversation is out of the Komodo Maojin's earshot.

"How?" Thy blinked.

"Follow my lead," Leo said, taking out his pistol.

Realizing what Leo's trying to do, Thy immediately took out her pistol as well, and followed Leo as they sneaked their way towards the Komodo Maojin.

"Hey lizard-breath!"

The Komodo Maojin turned around to see Leo taunting him, his pistol pointed at the kaijin.

"Eat this!"

Leo immediately fired his pistol, the bullet bouncing off against the Maojin's chest armor. Seeing the police officer's futile attempts made the Komodo Maojin laugh, a distorted cackle escaping his mouth.

"Is that the best you can do, human?" the Komodo Maojin chuckled.

"Nope," Leo smirked, "This is. Thy, now!"

Emerging out from a nearby debris, Thy fired her pistol at the Komodo Maojin, with Leo doing the same thing as well. The bullets bounced off against the kaijin's chest armor, but a few of them actually managed to graze through the Komodo Maojin's chainmail-like scales, causing him to wince in pain.

"You see that?" Steffi said, pointing at Leo and Thy firing upon the Komodo Maojin, "You're not alone now. The city won't let you fight these creatures by yourself. They…they have accepted you as their savior. They want to work with you, not against you! Now it's time for you to repay the trust that the city has given to you!"

Voyager chuckled underneath his breath upon hearing that, "Your brother must have told you about what happened during our interrogation on our way here, haven't he?"

Steffi smiled warmly, "He told us everything. Don't worry, we won't kick you out of this city…because we need you, Voyager."

Encouraged by Steffi's words, Voyager slowly stood up, ignoring the burning pain raging throughout his body. Underneath his helmet, Krishna replied Steffi's smile with a smile of his own, finally glad that he's been acknowledged.

"Now get out there and be a hero that you are," Steffi said.

Voyager nodded, "Will do."

As Steffi and her friends cheered on, Voyager leaped back into the battlefield and just in time because Leo and Thy had just ran out of bullets, meaning that they couldn't distract the Komodo Maojin for much longer.

"Crap!" Leo cursed, "Looks like we're done for here."

Thy nodded nervously, bracing for the worst as the Komodo Maojin prepared himself to fry the two police officers in front of him with his flame breath.

"Yo, hothead!"

The Komodo Maojin turned around to receive a swift jab onto his face, causing the kaijin to stumble back. Rubbing his sore jaw, the Komodo Maojin glared in anger as he saw Voyager standing in front of him, having delivered that finesse shot with his right fist.

"Oh, ready for another barbeque, I see?" the Komodo Maojin taunted, "Then I'll grant you that wish!"

 **(Cue BGM: eternal traveller - Project DMM)**

"On the contrary, my friend, you're the one who's going to be barbequed!" Voyager taunted back, pointing his right index finger at the Komodo Maojin, "Yo, Karin, can we use that again?"

" _ **It's been a while since you used that, huh?**_ " Karin replied, " _ **Aren't you afraid that you've lost your touch with that after not using it for a while?**_ "

"Don't worry," Voyager said, taking out a Maojin Card from his card holder, the card having an image of a purple centaurus beetle flying through several lightning clouds with a purple horizontal line on its left hand side, the words " **THUNDER CENTAURUS** " emblazoned in white on said line, while the back of the card was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **2** superimposed on a shield engraved on it, "Using hand-to-hand combat lately hasn't made my swordplay dull!"

Voyager quickly inserted the card into the slot on his left hip.

 **TWO EQUIP! THUNDER CENTAURUS!**

Voyager raised his right hand into the air, prompting a purple bolt of lightning to appear from the skies above and struck Voyager's waiting hand.

" _Jancuk_!" Voyager swore in Indonesian as a sudden stinging sensation overwhelmed his right hand, "Forgot how painful that was."

" _ **You'll get used to it,**_ " Karin said rather sarcastically.

As the smoke covering Voyager's right hand cleared away, it revealed a brand new weapon in the warrior's hand, a silver curved sword with a purple cutlass-like hilt, its blade resembling the horn of a centaurus beetle. Purple tribal linings could be seen on the sword's silver blade, the lines resembling lightning streaks. The spectators of the battle let out gasps of awe as they saw the weapon, noticing the incredible power that it's giving off.

"Haven't used this in a while," Voyager chuckled as he gave the sword's blade a good wipe with his left hand, "Introducing, my Kaminari Blade."

"Big deal, you just got yourself a sword," the Komodo Maojin scoffed, "That doesn't make a difference!"

The Komodo Maojin once again unleashes his flame breath, but this time Voyager was ready. Immediately he thrusts his Kaminari Blade towards the incoming flames, the weapon's silver blade absorbing the heat of the incoming attack much to the Maojin's surprise.

"The Hell?!" the Komodo Maojin gasped.

"My turn," Voyager smirked, "Hiyah!"

And with that Voyager performed a diagonal slash onto the Komodo Maojin's chest armor with his Kaminari Blade, the weapon's red-hot blade actually cutting through the kaijin's thick armor like it's made out of butter!

"What the fuck?!" the Komodo Maojin cursed as it stepped back, his chest armor slightly melted from Voyager's slash.

"Using your heat against you," Voyager said, "Looks like your time is up, lizard boy."

Before the Komodo Maojin could say anything else, Voyager slashed him repeatedly on his torso armor, melting away more and more of the kaijin's thick armor, forcing the Komodo Maojin to perform his crossed arm guard once again. But this time, with a simple slash of the Kaminari Blade, the Maojin's thick gauntlets were easily shattered much to the kaijin's horror.

"No!" the Komodo Maojn gasped, his gauntlets dropping to the ground like melted ice cream while his chest armor has been severely damaged, exposing his slightly delicate flesh, "This is impossible! I can't go out like this!"

 ***STAB***

The Komodo Maojin's eyes went wide in shock and horror as Voyager stabbed the Kaminari Blade's curved blade deep into his exposed chest, causing black blood to gush out of the stab wound like a water fountain.

"Your reign of terror ends here," Voyager calmly said, taking out an Overcharge Card and inserting it into the slot on his left hip.

 **THUNDER OVERCHARGE!**

" **Lightning…Assault** ," Voyager announced calmly as purple electricity surges from the ScanDriver towards the warrior's entire upper body, before the electricity channeled themselves into the Kaminari Blade.

"Noooooo!" the Komodo Maojin yelled in agony as purple electricity surged throughout his entire body, before seconds afterwards he exploded in a huge blaze of glory, his threat on Ho Chi Minh City ended permanently.

 **(BGM ends)**

As the smoke and fire from the Komodo Maojin's destruction cleared away, Voyager slowly crouched down towards where the Maojin had last stood. There, he saw an unconscious Hako, with a Maojin Card lying next to her. The card depicted a Komodo dragon against a fiery background, with a red line on the card's left hand side. The words " **INFERNO KOMODO** " were emblazoned in white on said line, while a small fiery icon was seen on the card's top left corner. The back of the card was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **A** superimposed on a sword engraved on it.

Smiling, Voyager slowly picked up the Maojin Card and places it into his card holder, before the warrior felt that something…or someone watching him from a distance. Slowly looking up, Voyager saw a black armored warrior standing in a distance, it's features obscured by the remaining fire from both the Komodo Maojin's destruction and his rampage inside Hako's body, but Voyager knew all too well about the _Tyrannosaurus_ -themed warrior in front of him.

"Star…" Voyager muttered, "Can't believe he's here."

" _ **The vanguard of the Maojins,**_ " Karin added, " _ **The one who will ruthlessly execute whoever gets in the way of the Maojins' goals…but I think he's just watching our battle**_ **.** "

"True," Voyager said, "If he decided to engage us now, we're in no shape to fight him…but something tells me that we're going to fight Star soon enough…"

Shooting out one last hateful glare at Voyager with his visor-like eye, Star slowly retreated back into the shadows, having witnessed enough.

Voyager, on the other hand, slowly picked up the unconscious Hako, carrying her bridal-style to the sidelines where Leo, Thy, Steffi, Kim, and Vy had been waiting for him. Slowly Voyager handed Hako over to Leo, who proceeded to carry her with both hands.

"Take her to the nearest hospital," Voyager said, "She'll be fine, but she needs to be checked for any signs of injury. And her mental state…that'll need a lot of repairing."

"She probably knew what she had done…" Leo said, caressing Hako's hair as he saw the peacefulness in her unconscious face, "But she couldn't do anything to stop herself."

"That's why she's going to need your help in order to get back to her own feet," Voyager said, before he notices Thy, "And I owe you my gratitude for helping me in battle today. What's your name?"

"Mai Thy Dinh Vu," Thy introduced himself, "A good friend of Leo and his partner in the police force."

"Nice to meet you," Voyager smiled underneath his helmet, "The city needs more good police officers like you two."

"Thanks," Thy blushed slightly.

"No, thank you," Voyager said as he opened the ScanDriver's tab, pulling out the Thunder Kabuto card before sliding the tab shut, causing his armor to disintegrate into purple motes of light, "My name's Krishna by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Krishna," Thy said.

"Right," Krishna turned his attention back to Leo, "About that blood test thing…"

"You don't need to," Leo interrupted, "I've seen you fight today and I believe that you're the answer that Ho Chi Minh City needed in handling these Unrecorded Lifeforms. I'll try to pull some strings with the higher ups in the HCMCPD, but hopefully if I could convince them that you're an ally to them and we should work together in preventing these Maojins from fulfilling their goal, I believe that the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department and Voyager would make a great team."

"Don't call him that," Steffi suddenly said, surprising everyone, "Call him…Kamen Rider Voyager."

"Kamen…Rider?" Krishna blinked.

"You know…because you ride a motorcycle and you wear a kickass armor," Steffi grinned, "And you kinda remind me of those masked superheroes who are protecting Japan right now."

"A hero of justice who protect the innocent on his motorcycle," Leo smirked, "I've heard of those from my colleagues back in Japan. The two-in-one detective Double, the ringed magician Wizard, Ryugen, who protected the city of Zawame after the mysterious Helheim Incident, as well as a close friend of our city's police commissioner, Shinnosuke Tomari, Kamen Rider Drive. Can't believe I'm saying this, but the people of Vietnam just got themselves their very own Kamen Rider."

"Kamen Rider Voyager…that sounds cool," Krishna commented, before taking out Karin from his jacket pocket, "What do you think about that?"

" _ **I think that sounds cool too,**_ " added Karin, " _ **You should accept it. You've been fighting for the innocent for a very long time and that alone makes you worthy of that title. Besides, the girl gave you motivation to fight today, you should thank her for that.**_ "

"How could I forget about that," Krishna chuckled, before giving Steffi a pat on her shoulder, "Thank you for your kind words today. I wouldn't be able to fight with such motivation without your words."

"Ah, that's nothing," Steffi smiled, "My words are just as it is, I guess."

Krishna smiled back, pocketing Karin once again as he made his way towards his motorcycle, "Well then, I guess it's time for me to go then."

"Wait, where are you going?" Steffi asked.

Krishna smiled once again, this time in a much more mysterious manner, "The world is round, right? I believe our paths will cross once again. Until then, see ya."

And with that, Krishna puts on his helmet, before riding away from the scene, leaving behind Leo, Thy, Steffi, Kim, Vy, and an unconscious Hako, the former five looking at Krishna in sheer awe and bewilderment.

" _I believe we'll meet again soon, Krishna!_ " Steffi thought as she saw Krishna vanishing around a corner.

 **xxx**

As the Sun began to rise over Ho Chi Minh City, at Calmette Bridge, Star slowly staggered himself into a stop, the black armored Maojin clutching his right hand as a black and orange glow overtook his entire body, reverting back into his human host, Tran.

"That's…it…" Tran panted as she leaned herself against the bridge, her entire body drenched in sweat, "You're…done…for…today."

" _ **But you saw him, right?**_ " Star asked from inside Tran's head, " _ **The one who made your dear friend suffer so much.**_ "

"I saw him," Tran nodded weakly, "The one who killed my friend's father…Voyager…"

" _ **That's right,**_ " Star snickered sinisterly, " _ **Your friend has trained herself for the day she encounter her father's murderer. And with her father's murderer in this city…I believe she will avenge him soon.**_ "

"But are you really sure about this?" Tran asked, "I mean…that Voyager person just saved the city. I don't think he would have the nerve to kill Minh's father."

" _ **But he did,**_ " Star replied, " _ **Do you trust me, right?**_ "

Tran nodded weakly.

" _ **Then never question anything that I say**_ **,** " Star said, his tone dark and wicked, " _ **Understood?**_ "

Tran was about to answer when suddenly Minh's Bentley appeared out of nowhere, pulling over next to her.

"Tran!" Minh called out as she steps out from her car, "You made me worried again. Thao said that you went out for some fresh air but you didn't came back after an hour and a half."

"Sorry," Tran said slowly as Minh helped her to her feet, "But…I saw someone today."

"Who was it?" Minh asked as she helped Tran into her Bentley.

"I saw…" Tran said, pausing for a moment as she was unsure what she's doing right now is for the best, before finally making up her mind, "…your father's murderer."

Minh's eyes went wide upon hearing that.

 **xxx**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **xxx**

 **Next time on Kamen Rider Voyager, episode 3 – Burning My Soul! Unleash the Inferno**

With the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department finally on the same page as Krishna, a Maojin Counter Unit was formed, funded and armed exclusively by Minh's Lotus Industries and with Leo, Hako, and Thy as members, as well as having Steffi's Supernatural Investigation Group as their civilian liaisons organization. The first case of the MCU involves a Maojin that has been attacking fishermen boats in Saigon River. Will the MCU and Voyager team up together to defeat this Maojin? Or will the Seahorse Maojin drive Ho Chi Minh City's fishermen out of business? With Star, the vanguard of the Maojin now involved in the war between Voyager and the Maojins, a new, burning form is required for the side of good to have the upper-hand.

 **xxx**

 **Maojin Card of the Day**

 **Thunder Centaurus**

 **Class:** Two of Shields

 **Tribe:** Thunder

 **Properties:** Arms Voyager with the Kaminari Blade, a curved sword themed after a centaurus beetle's horn that is Thunder Form's signature weapon. The Kaminari Blade is capable of inflicting massive damage on enemies with its precision slashes and is able to channel Voyager Thunder Form's electrical abilities. The blade of the Kaminari Blade is also capable of absorbing a Maojin's elemental-based attack, allowing Voyager Thunder Form to even up the odds in battle.

 **Maojin of the Day**

 **Komodo Maojin**

 **Class:** Ace of Swords

 **Tribe:** Fire

 **Motif:** Komodo dragon

 **Host:** Dao Ngoc Phuong Anh (Hako)

 **Abilities:** strength, pyrokinesis (breathing fire, firing fireballs from hands, heat pulse to repel and burn anyone holding his body, and also the ability to set things on fire while inside a human host), large claws capable of slashing and bashing enemies, high endurance, and armor capable of repelling all but the strongest of attacks.

 **Destroyed by:** Kamen Rider Voyager Thunder Form's Lightning Assault

 **xxx**

 **A/N: There you have it! The second chapter of** _ **Voyager**_ **done and dusted. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Once again a huge thank you for xXRocketShark216Xx for his kind review and criticism, hopefully I've improved since the first chapter lol also don't forget to check out his work** _ **Kamen Rider Gadget**_ **! I learned a thing or two by reading his story and trying my best to implement what I've learned from reading his story in making my own. And yeah, I've teased the human identity of the secondary Rider for this series, y'all just need to guess who is it :p**

 **Once again please leave your kind reviews and no flames! I would really appreciate people who spent their time reading this hehe and don't forget to smash that follow/favorite button if you don't want to miss the adventures of Krishna and his friends!**

 **This is maxpower02, signing out!**


	3. Burning My Soul! Unleash the Inferno

**A/N: Hello everyone! maxpower02 here with the third chapter of** _ **Kamen Rider Voyager**_ **! In this chapter, we will have a first look of Voyager's first alternate form as well as witnessing the first fight between Voyager and Star, a major villain in this story whose role in** _ **Voyager**_ **is somewhat similar to Chase from** _ **Kamen Rider Drive**_ **. The rivalry between these two will be an interesting one, so be sure to keep yourself glued to Voyager's adventures! But before we start, I would like to give my favorite reviewer of this story xXRocketShark216Xx and also rpgfan100 a huge shout out. Thank you for your reviews on chapter 2, guys!**

 **Now, without further ado, let's roll on with the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, TOEI does.**

 **xxx**

 **Previously, on Kamen Rider Voyager**

 _After his fight against the Eagle Maojin, Kamen Rider Voyager was captured by the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department. He was then taken to the HCMCPD Headquarters, where he was interrogated by Officers Pham Minh Tuan (Leo) and Dao Ngoc Phuong Anh (Hako). There Voyager confided to them his human identity, Krishna, as well as his equipment and what he's known so far about the Maojins. Much to Krishna's relief, Leo and Hako decided against kicking Krishna out of the city, since they share the same concern that the police force alone wouldn't be enough to stop the Maojins and they felt that Voyager could be the help that they needed the most._

 _Disaster then struck when Hako got possessed by the Ace of Swords, the Komodo Maojin. The possessed Hako rampaged through the city and would have burnt it down if it's not for Voyager's intervention. Thanks to Steffi's encouraging words, Voyager managed to unleash his Kaminari Blade, breaking through the Komodo Maojin's solid defenses before defeating the powerful kaijin, putting an end to his rampage and at the same time saving Hako from his clutches. Now with both the HCMCPD and Voyager on the same page, the people of HCMC has gotten themselves a new beacon of hope in the ongoing Maojin crisis._

 _But a new, powerful enemy awaits in the horizon, as the next Maojin tribe prepares its own brand of rampage…_

 **xxx**

 _ **Saigon Port**_

It was early Saturday morning in Ho Chi Minh City, two days since the Komodo Maojin's rampage. Peace has seemingly returned to Vietnam's largest city, with District 4 being slowly rebuilt after being damaged by two consecutive Maojin attacks, while at the rest of the city things has gone back to normalcy. This particular Saturday was no exception – the Sun has only started to appear from the horizon when workers had already gotten themselves busy at Saigon Port, the world's 24th busiest container port in the world. Even though most of the shipping activities of the city has been relocated to the newer and larger Thi Vai Port in the nearby Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, a number of river-bound container ships still used the port as their docking station until today. The lack of large sea-bound containers in Saigon Port has allowed the city to relocate its main fish market into the area in order to fill in the vacancy, meaning that Saigon's fishermen had called Saigon Port their office for the past few weeks.

Standing on the pier overlooking the newly opened fish market was a young woman, aged around 21. She has a rather petite build, with fair white skin and shoulder-length dark auburn hair with a slight bang over her forehead. The young woman was wearing a light blue lace top with dark blue Thai pants and light blue slippers, with a pair of glasses on her face completing her look. As she looked on the fishermen boats going back and forth in front of the fish market across the pier where she's standing, a spiteful "tch" escaped her mouth.

"Those useless humans," the young woman muttered as she saw a fisherman boat unloading buckets after buckets of fishes onto the market's loading dock, "How dare they treat our kind like that! Being scooped out of their homes and thrown out like that…stripped of their dignity, robbed of their families, and being depraved of their right to live…oh I wish I could crush those pathetic humans right here right now!"

As the young woman clenched her fists in anger, two more people came into the pier, both of them men. The first man, aged around 25, was tall and slightly muscular in build, with lightly tanned skin and short, slick black hair styled into tiny spikes. He wore a navy blue T-shirt with shark spray-painted in white on it, blue denim jeans, and dark blue sneakers, a necklace with a shark's tooth on it hanging from his neck. The man's face indicated that he's from an Indonesian descent, just like Krishna.

The second man was around 22 years of age, with dark skin and a face that indicates Caribbean descent. His long, shoulder-length hair are styled into dreadlocks, while his greased blue and white attire suggested that he's a crew member on a cruise ship of some sorts, particularly the men manning the ship's engines.

"Morning, Pi," the first man greeted, "The Sun's barely out and I see you're already being pissed off at something."

"Oh, hi there, Bayu," Pi, the young woman, replied with a greeting of her own, "It's nothing. It's just those humans. I can't stand the sight of them killing our own kind like that. They literally took our kind away from their river homes and threw them onto land. God knows why they would do such things to our kind…I heard that those humans actually eat them!"

Bayu, the young man, shuddered slightly at Pi's last few words. Quickly he placed his hands onto Pi's shoulders, calming down the fuming young woman, "There, there. We'll wipe away the humans for what they did to our kind. This planet belongs to the creatures of the deep, and we're here to reclaim that from these…land-dwellers. Speaking of which, I've found a nice new body for one of our Water Tribesmen."

Upon hearing that, the sourness in Pi's face was wiped away and replaced with a beaming smile from the young woman's lips, "Ooooh? Who is it? I'm curious."

Bayu took a few steps back, allowing the dark-skinned man to step forward, bowing respectfully in front of Pi.

"His name is Damian Morgan," Bayu said, "Born and bred in Jamaica. He was a crew member at this fancy cruise ship that's currently docked in Vung Tau and our Six of Cups managed to fit himself quite nicely inside this guy. The other crewmen of that ship would probably file a missing person's report when they realize that we've taken their comrade, but what the heck. They'll be dead anyway once we're done with them."

"And you've picked him up all the way to Vung Tau," Pi smirked, remembering how Vung Tau was quite far away from Ho Chi Minh City, "That's what I admire about you, Bayu. You always put out your best efforts for our Tribesmen."

"And I will repay those efforts by making you proud," Damian said politely, still bowing in front of Pi, "I, Six of Cups, solemnly swear that from this second on will obey the commands of Lady Empress and Lord Emperor."

Suddenly Bayu grabbed Damian by the neck, shocking the Jamaican as he was lifted off the ground.

"Now you listen here," Bayu said, his demeanor still calm despite holding Damian in a powerful neck lift, "Number one rule of the Water Tribe. Never, and I mean _never_ refer to the Water Arcanas with their real names."

"Remember our names, Six of Cups," Pi added, "My name is Le Vu Quynh Mai and you can call me Pi. And that man who had picked you up all the way to Vung Tau, his name is Bayu Pradika. Make sure that you remember that, or I'll ask Bayu here to throw you all the way back to Vung Tau."

"Y…yes Lady Pi," Damian stammered as he struggled to breathe.

"Good," Pi said, gesturing Bayu to release his hold on Damian's neck.

Damian let out a huge sigh of relief as Bayu released him, adjusting his breath as he rubbed his sore neck.

"And now, for your assignment," Bayu said as he walked towards Pi's side, "We've been observing the humans near our natural habitat here and we are utterly disgusted at how they're treating our kind."

"Behind us is a symbol of our kind's pain and suffering," Pi added, obviously referring to the fish market across the pier, "What we want you to do is to disrupt the humans' ritual of capturing our brethren…something that the humans call…fishing."

"Your task is simple," Bayu said again, "Find any vessel capturing and carrying our kind and attack them. If they have our kind captured, set them free. Let the humans know that they shouldn't be too greedy with what nature has provided them. Give them a warning…that if the humans dare to lay a hand on our kind, our kind will retaliate back…a hundred times more."

"Got it," Damian said, once again bowing respectfully in front of Bayu and Pi.

"Now go out there and liberate our kind!" Bayu commanded.

Damian nodded as a bluish glow began to overtake his body, before a cascade of water bursts out from the young man's entire figure. Both water and glow died out seconds afterwards, revealing a seahorse-themed humanoid in Damian's place. Colored pale yellow with patches of red on the thighs, armpits, and crotch, the humanoid has webbed fins growing from his forearms and shins, with three rows of webbed spikes on the humanoid's back and a tall, webbed crest on the top of the humanoid's head. The humanoid's fingers were long, wet, and slimy, almost resembling fins, with the same thing could be said for the humanoid's feet. A small yet curved tail was seen on the humanoid's backside, while the usual golden belt with a blue loincloth hanging out of it was seen on the humanoid's waist. The humanoid's face resembled that of a seahorse's, with a pair of large white eyes with black pupils and a long, tube-like nose, and completing the humanoid's bizarre look was a bulge on his abdomen, with a small, slit-like opening on it.

The Seahorse Maojin gave Bayu and Pi one last glance as he went towards the edge of the pier, nodding at the two.

"Wish me luck," the Seahorse Maojin said, before he took a straight dive into the waters below.

"Good luck!" Pi waved the Seahorse Maojin goodbye as he disappeared into the river, while Bayu nodded silently, knowing that he could count on the Seahorse Maojin in doing his assignment.

Unknown to the two, another young man has been watching Bayu and Pi from a distance, this individual being 23 years of age and of a Caucasian descent, with pale white skin and long blonde hair styled into dreadlocks not unlike Damian's. The man's attire consisted of a dusty brown hemp shirt with dark brown sweat pants and a pair of dark brown sandals, with the look being completed with a multicolored bandana on the man's head. With a pair of binoculars in his hands, the man watched on as Bayu and Pi left the pier, going into a blue Ford Fiesta parked near the pier's entrance. As the Fiesta left the Saigon Port area, the man slowly emerged out from his hiding place, a smirk on his face.

"So, instead of destroying everything for the awakening process, the Water Tribe has decided to protect this planet's aquatic lifeforms," the man said to no-one in particular as he left Saigon Port, "I do like how they execute their plans carefully instead of going straight into the rampage, that way the humans wouldn't know what hit them…but still, we need to keep an eye on the Water Tribe…"

 **xxx**

 _ **KAMEN RIDER VOYAGER**_

 **Episode 3: Burning My Soul! Unleash the Inferno**

 **OP: Eiyuu no Uta – THE ALFEE**

 **xxx**

 _ **Ho Chi Minh City Police Department Headquarters, District 1**_

 _ **The next day**_

Leo let out a rather bored sigh as he leaned himself against his seat, taking a sip out of his cup of coffee as he does so. It has been twenty minutes since Leo and a few other officers of the HCMCPD had been summoned to the headquarters' meeting room for an important, closed-door meeting with the city's police commissioner, but the person in question hasn't showed up yet. Thy was sitting next to Leo, playing with phone to pass the time.

"Don't worry," Thy said as Leo looked at her, "He'll show up soon."

Five minutes later Police Lieutenant General Nguyen Ho Trung Thanh, the HCMCPD's commissioner, finally entered the room, prompting everyone in attendance to stand up and salute the 35-year old man. The youngest person to hold the position of police commissioner in the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department, Thanh was a medium-sized man with tan brown skin, short, rather spiky black hair, and a pair of thick-framed glasses on his face. Wearing the usual olive green uniform of the HCMCPD but with a number of golden medals adorning his uniform that signify his achievements that made him the police commissioner that he is today, Thanh lets out an air of wisdom and leadership that earns the admiration of his fellow policemen.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the force," Thanh greeted once everyone had sat down on their seats, "First of all I apologize for my tardiness…I had a meeting with the representatives of the Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, and Nha Trang police departments. But what I've discussed in that meeting will be related to what we'll be discussing in this one."

Thanh gestured for a nearby policewoman to turn on the room's projector before asking the policemen nearest to the room's windows to close the windows' blinds, allowing images of the destruction caused by the Eagle Maojin across Ho Chi Minh City to display itself on a screen set up next to Thanh.

"Four days ago a series of particularly powerful tornadoes struck Ho Chi Minh City, leaving 76 people dead and hundreds being injured, most of them because the tornadoes struck the city in such a sudden manner, no one was prepared to anticipate it," Thanh said, "Initially we thought that it's a meteorological problem gone haywire thanks to the changes in our planet's climate lately, but thankfully we were alerted to the true culprit behind the tornadoes."

The screen then displayed a shot of the Eagle Maojin.

"It's an Unrecorded Lifeform," Thanh continued, "Now, as you all know, our city has been facing these mysterious creatures for the past few months, but every effort that we've made to stop these creatures has been futile. Lives are being lost, properties are being destroyed, and even though we managed to defeat some of these creatures with great effort, they always came back. Until three days ago."

The screen then displayed images of Kamen Rider Voyager fighting the Eagle Maojin.

"As we intercepted this particular Unrecorded Lifeform at District 4, this mysterious masked warrior, calling himself Voyager, engaged this Unrecorded Lifeform and easily destroys it with a single kick," Thanh said, "Of course, at first we couldn't trust this guy. I mean, the guy has the ability to destroy an Unrecorded Lifeform, but at that time we didn't know where his true allegiance lies. If his intentions were malicious, surely that'll add more to our already mounting problems."

The screen then displayed CCTV shots of Krishna confronting the possessed Hako, shots from Thy's dashboard camera depicting the possessed Hako's rampage in District 4, and shots of Kamen Rider Voyager taking on the Komodo Maojin.

"Three days ago one of our own fell victim to these Unrecorded Lifeforms," Thanh explained again, "Her body was taken over by an Unrecorded Lifeform here in this very building and it forced her to go on a rampage at District 4, still recovering from the eagle-like Unrecorded Lifeform's attack. And that's when this Voyager fellow shows his true allegiances to us. It managed to defeat the Komodo dragon-themed Unrecorded Lifeform possessing our fellow officer's body and save her from its evil clutches, proving his worth as an ally of justice. And that wouldn't have happen too if it's not for the bravery of two of this city's finest police officers right here in this room, who fearlessly engaged the Unrecorded Lifeform when Voyager's down, thus buying Voyager some time to recover himself."

Both Leo and Thy blushed, knowing that the commissioner was talking about them.

"The city salutes your bravery and we would like to thank you for your selflessness for this city and one of our own," Thanh said, "Let's give it out for Officers Pham Minh Tuan and Mai Thy Dinh Vu!"

The whole room erupted into applauses as both Leo and Thy stood up, huge smiles on their faces as they accepted the praises and applauses with full gratitude.

However one person didn't join in the celebrations. Letting out an inaudible sigh as she folded her arms in her seat, Police Lieutenant Tran Khanh Linh kept silent as the celebrations went on for about a minute or so. The 29-year old officer was your typical no-nonsense police officer, graduating the academy as the top of her class and having worked alongside the elite in her hometown of Hanoi before being transferred to Ho Chi Minh City around three years ago. Her medium-sized, slim figure belittles her combat experience, meaning that despite her non-threatening looks, she's definitely someone you wouldn't mess with. Her youthful face was stuck in a permanent stern expression, probably from all the stress that she had to endure while on the job and her habit of doing everything seriously. Despite that she's quite a beauty – her pale white complexion made her one of the most attractive police officers in the department, but her stern, serious and no-nonsense attitude made her literally hard to get. Like Thanh and the other officers in the room, she's wearing her olive green uniforms, but this time with red accents that signify her rank, while her shoulder-length straight black hair is tied into a side bun.

"Pardon me, Commissioner," Khanh Linh raised her right arm suddenly, interrupting the other police officers who are still congratulating Leo and Thy, "But are you sure that this Voyager person is really trustworthy? What if he's just trying to gain our support and betray us in the future?"

Khanh Linh's question was more than enough to bring the entire meeting room into a sudden, awkward, silence. Slowly the police officers in the room returned to their respective seats, leaving Leo and Thy still standing in their places. Even Thanh was taken aback by the police lieutenant's question, his lips were sealed in silence.

"That's right," Khanh Linh continued, "We can't just judge one's character based on only a couple of encounters. We need to keep a close eye on this Voyager person, to make sure that he is what the city really needs and not a…how can I put it this way…ah yes, a Trojan horse sent to lull us with its sweet promises before showing its true, sinister nature, striking us at our must vulnerable moment."

"Voyager is not like that!"

Thy gasped in shock as she saw Leo slamming his hands against the desk in front of him, his face red in anger. Leo was known throughout the force as a very patient, level-headed police officer who rarely flew into tempers, so it was surprising to see Leo being angry, especially in front of a superior officer like Khanh Linh. Immediately the young policewoman sat down on her seat, anxiously biting her lower lip as she prepared herself for the inevitable debate.

"Pardon my rudeness, Lieutenant, but I have to beg to differ," Leo spoke again, this time trying his best to maintain his temper, "You can say that because you don't know much about Voyager, but I have the right to disagree because I actually saw him fight twice with my own eyes. I also got the opportunity to talk to him face-to-face. Voyager is an earnest warrior, an honest man who fights for the sake of the innocent, he's truly sincere in what he's doing and his conviction is to protect everyone from the Unrecorded Lifeforms' threat. He saved my partner, he saved District 4 twice. Tell me, Lieutenant, tell me what should he do to gain your trust?"

Khanh Linh smiled cynically, "You said that I don't know much about Voyager? Officer Leo, the transcript of your interrogation with him clearly stated that he's been turning these Unrecorded Lifeforms into cards that he uses to access his own powers. Why should we trust someone who uses the powers of those damned Unrecorded Lifeforms with the safety of our city? What if one day Voyager decided to use those Unrecorded Lifeforms in his arsenal to launch an attack against us once he has eliminated his 'competition?' Have you ever thought of that, Officer?"

"And your point is?"

"Voyager is still an unknown force to us," Khanh Linh said, "But one thing's for sure, we can't trust someone who uses the powers of Unrecorded Lifeforms to fight his fellow Unrecorded Lifeforms."

Leo shot an angry glare at Khanh Linh.

"That's right," Khanh Linh lets out another cynical smile, "As long as he's still using those Unrecorded Lifeform cards to fight, Voyager's just another Unrecorded Lifeform in my books. Besides, he didn't have any records in any civilian databases that we have, so I'm doubting that this Voyager person is even human. And we shouldn't rely ourselves on an Unrecorded Lifeform vigilante to solve our problems…we're the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department for God's sake. The city's people entrusts us with their safety and we must repay them. That means taking down those Unrecorded Lifeforms by ourselves."

"And look where it got us," Leo argued, "We've been fighting these things for a while and we didn't exactly made any progress."

"We've defeated a few Unrecorded Lifeforms before Voyager came," Khanh Linh said.

"And they kept coming back," Leo argued again, "And that's because we didn't even bother to check their remains for anything that could revive them in the future."

"For the record, we didn't know anything about the Unrecorded Lifeforms' so-called regenerative abilities until your interrogation with Voyager the other day," Khanh Linh said.

Leo sighed, "That's true, but that's not my point, Lieutenant. My point is, with Voyager on our side, we could solve the Unrecorded Lifeform problem plaguing our city much sooner. It is true that we've defeated some of them prior to Voyager's arrival, but we've been struggling against them. We're talking about the loss of lives here, Lieutenant. Many of our men had died in vain fighting these Unrecorded Lifeforms before Voyager came. Our weaponry could only annoy these creatures and the only way that we could defeat these Unrecorded Lifeforms before Voyager's arrival was by literally blowing up small portions of our city's districts and dishing out a majority of our manpower. The people want results, Lieutenant. And so far before Voyager came we couldn't give them such results. The Unrecorded Lifeforms are running around Ho Chi Minh City scot free and we couldn't afford to lose more men or damage more of this city's property but without the end product that all of us in this city desire. Because of that it's always nice to have someone who's experienced enough in fighting them as well as having the power to dispatch them quickly to assist us in our cause. I arrest my case."

Leo sat down on his seat, sighing underneath his breath after that grueling debate. Khanh Linh, on the other hand, rolled her eyes in displeasure as she sat down as well, grumbling to herself as she does so. Never before had Khanh Linh encounter someone as stubborn as Leo and the young officer had really tested her nerves.

Leo, on the other hand, had prepared himself for such a debate. When he pitched his intention of having the HCMCPD working together with Voyager to Thanh, he was met with both delight and skepticism from the commissioner.

 **xxx**

 _ **HCMCPD Commissioner's Office, yesterday afternoon**_

" _What you're proposing is quite crazy, young man," Thanh said after Leo had told him_ _everything about Kamen Rider Voyager and his proposal to have the police department working alongside the Rider, "But you have your point."_

 _A brief smile escaped Leo's lips as Thanh adjusted his position on his seat._

" _We don't have the adequate amount of firepower to take on these Unrecorded Lifeforms," Thanh said again, "But this Voyager fellow…he has shown himself to be quite capable of taking on these creatures and if what he said during his interrogation was correct, he knows a thing or two about them. We could use that to our advantage. Besides, we owe him one for saving Officer Phuong's life."_

" _So is it a yes?" Leo asked._

" _Personally, yes." Thanh nodded as he sorted through a number of files that had been delivered to his desk earlier, before turning his attention back towards Leo, "But I need to discuss this with the others, since I need their cooperation too in your proposal. Let me warn you first, however…there are some high-ranking officers in our department who are…how can you say this…still having doubts on whether we should trust Voyager or not. When I pitch your idea to the department tomorrow, be prepared to have a debate with one such officer."_

 **xxx**

" _And boy, Commissioner Thanh was right_ ," Leo thought to himself as he saw Khanh Linh sipping her coffee uneasily in front of him.

"Alright," Thanh cleared his throat, "Now with that debate over with, let's move on to our main part of today's agenda. Voyager's presence and his ability to defeat Unrecorded Lifeforms with ease means that we must step up our game against them. Can't let him have all the fun, can we?"

Both Leo and Thy chuckled upon hearing Thanh's slight banter, while Khanh Linh retained her serious expression. From the moment Thanh told everyone that the HCMCPD must step up their game against the Unrecorded Lifeforms, her thoughts were focused on one and only one thing. The ultimate defeat of the Unrecorded Lifeforms.

"So, with that in mind and thanks to the inputs of a few of our officers, today I'm declaring the formation of a special taskforce designated specifically to tackle the Unrecorded Lifeforms head on," Thanh said, as the screen next to him displayed a row of three letters, being written in futuristic font and painted in majestic chrome green with red and yellow highlighting, "The MCU, the Maojin Counter Unit, with Maojin apparently being the Unrecorded Lifeforms' real name according to Voyager, thanks to the info that we've got from him during his interrogation. The MCU will be given full control in handling the city's Unrecorded Lifeform-related problems and they are extremely encouraged to handle any Unrecorded Lifeform that they'll find with extreme prejudice. This is a designated taskforce specifically created to handle these dangerous creatures, meaning that it's a special, elite unit with our best men and women manning the team. The members of this unit will be the combined members of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department, Hanoi Police Department, Hai Phong Police Department, Da Nang Police Department, and Nha Trang Police Department's Counter-Terrorism Unit, so their experience in handling extremely dangerous situations are second-to-none. We'll backup Voyager, but we'll do our best in taking on those Unrecorded Lifeforms by ourselves."

"Excellent," Khanh Linh smiled. Even though she's rather reluctant in working together with Voyager, she's still delighted that the HCMCPD has decided to take the Unrecorded Lifeforms problem seriously. Besides, who wouldn't want to work together with some of the best officers of the country?

"But how about our armaments, Sir?" asked a police officer, "Our weapons are totally ineffective against those Unrecorded Lifeforms!"

"Leave that to me."

Everyone in attendance turned around to see Minh standing at the back of the meeting room, clad in a formal-looking black and white blazer with matching skirt while her body was leaning against the room's wall.

"Good Lord, Minh!" Thanh gasped, "How long have you been inside this room? I haven't instructed you to enter yet!"

"Five minutes ago," Minh replied as she got off her leaning stance, "Got bored outside and decided to take a peek at this little meeting of yours. And I have to say, that was quite the debate."

Immediately without being instructed to do so, Minh went over towards the front of the room, positioning herself next to Thanh.

"Right, did someone asked about armaments?" Minh asked, before continuing even though the police officers in front of her haven't responded to her question, "First of all, I apologize for my slight…er…rudeness. My name is Le Thao Minh, I'm the chairwoman of Lotus Industries. I'm here today to talk about the new partnership between Lotus Industries and the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department."

"Lotus Industries has been known as one of Southeast Asia's finest weapons manufacturers," Thanh added, "So much so that Miss Minh here got an official recognition by…Mr. Tony Stark, isn't it?"

Minh nodded, "Yeah, Lotus Industries and Stark Industries had worked together on a project once to aid UN soldiers in their peace mission in Somalia and I was honored to work alongside a great man like him. But onto the more important stuff…since normal police weapons couldn't leave a scratch on these Unrecorded Lifeforms…"

The screen next to Minh and Thanh displayed images of hi-tech and futuristic-looking pistols, rifles, machine guns, and even a bazooka and a grenade launcher, much to the awe and amazement of the police officers in attendance.

"I've decided to supply the Maojin Counter Unit with the best, state-of-the-art, military grade weapons crafted by Lotus Industries. These bad boys didn't use normal bullets as their ammunition…the bullets for the pistols, rifles, and machineguns were all custom-made by Lotus Industries, tailored to be able to penetrate the toughest of armor. My men at Lotus Industries has tested these weapons and a single bullet from one of these was capable of penetrating a thick block of titanium. The pistols are called the X105-Strike, the rifles are called X303-Aegis, while the machineguns are called X207-Blitz."

The police officers in attendance could only let out gasps of amazements at Minh's presentation of the weapons, with Leo letting out a slight, amused nod.

"And don't get me started with the bazookas and grenade launchers," Minh continued, "Called the X131-Calamity and the X103-Buster respectively, the Calamity has the firepower of an anti-tank gun, same goes for the Buster. And incredibly, all of these incredible power has been scaled down for handheld usage, meaning that MCU members equipped with these two will become literal human tank destroyers, but targeting Unrecorded Lifeforms instead of tanks, obviously…and that's just plain awesome. Last but not least…"

The screen next to Minh and Thanh displayed an image of a small, foldable metallic knife, its blade glowing red.

"The X102-Duel. The finest combat knife ever produced by Lotus Industries, this baby's laser blade could cut through the toughest of metal," Minh said again, smiling proudly as she does so, "And all of these will be the standard issue weapons for the MCU. I hope that these new weapons would help the MCU in protecting the city from those wretched Unrecorded Lifeforms. And in order to study these creatures even further so that we could come up with a way to defeat them, I'm bringing in a close friend of my family's to help us. Professor, if you may…"

As if on cue, the meeting room's door opened to allow a 38-year old man to step inside the room. Wearing a white Polo shirt and black trousers, the man has tanned skin, an average build, and short black hair with a few gray lines on the temples. Taking out a pair of thin-framed glasses from his shirt pocket, the man wore them on his face as he stood next to Minh.

Immediately Khanh Linh recognized the man in front of her, and a look of slight disgust appeared on her face.

" _Oh no, not him again!_ " Khanh Linh cursed in her thoughts.

"Everyone, this is Professor Pham Van Truoc from the University of Hanoi," Minh introduced the man beside her, "He's going to help us in analyzing these Unrecorded Lifeforms and develop the perfect strategy to defeat them."

"Pleasure to meet you all," Professor Truoc bowed respectfully in front of the officers, "It is an honor to work alongside this talented group of men and women."

As the police officers in attendance applauded Professor Truoc, welcoming him to the team, Khanh Linh lets out a slight, inaudible, yet disgusted sigh. She and Professor Truoc had a long history with each other, having worked together in several cases during Khanh Linh's tenure with the Hanoi PD. Professor Truoc was one of Vietnam's brightest minds, but as a fellow genius, Khanh Linh often found herself at odds with him, developing a rivalry of wits if one might say. So the fact that fate has brought Khanh Linh and Professor Truoc together again…has not pleased the former at all.

"These new weapons looked cool and all," Thanh said as he looked at the screen, "But they seemed expensive. I wonder how much of the taxpayers' money are being spent on these…"

"No need to worry," Minh shook her head, patting the commissioner's shoulder reassuringly at the same time, "All of them are free of charge. Heck, you don't need to worry about the funding for the MCU as well…Lotus Industries would be more than happy to fund every single activity that this team does. Call it…a little token of appreciation towards the city where I was born and raised. I can guarantee, there will be zero Vietnamese Dong from the taxpayers' money that will be spent on this team."

"Rich and generous, that's a rare combination nowadays," Thanh smiled, "No wonder a lot of people like you and your company, Minh."

"My late father always taught me to return the society's kindness towards you and that has been my life's philosophy ever since," Minh said, a smile on her face as well.

"Right. Now with the weapons all sorted out, it's time to go into the more…technical stuff," Thanh told everyone in attendance, "As we all know, every good team needs a good leader. And because of that, I'm going to appoint someone who is worthy enough to become the leader of the Maojin Counter Unit."

Everyone in the room went silent in anticipation, each of them hoping that they would be appointed as the leader of the new elite taskforce.

"Officer Pham Minh Tuan, your bravery and dedication in our fight against the Unrecorded Lifeforms must be appreciated highly. And because of that, you'll be promoted into Lieutenant and serve as the leader of the Maojin Counter Unit."

Leo's jaws dropped in disbelief as everyone applauded him, while Thy gave him a congratulatory hug. Even Khanh Linh joined in the applause, even though one could easily see that it's out of formality instead of sincerity.

"And helping Lieutenant Tuan with his new position are Lieutenant Tran Khanh Linh and Lieutenant Mai Thy Dinh Vu," Thanh added, "Congratulations on your promotion, Thy. You and Tuan deserved it."

"I'll take it," Khanh Linh nodded, accepting her position while thinking to herself, " _At least I could have the MCU dig up a few things about Voyager while I at it_."

"It'll be our honor," Leo said on behalf of himself and Thy, "But I have one other request before I could fully accept my position."

"What is it?" Thanh asked.

"I want Officer Dao Ngoc Phuong Anh in the MCU after she got out of the hospital, promote her into the same position as Lieutenants Khanh Linh and Thy if you could. Officer Phuong has been my partner both in and out of this building, and I don't want her to be left out of this. Besides, she might know a thing or two about the Unrecorded Lifeforms."

 **xxx**

 _ **Cho Ray Hospital**_

After her ordeal with the Komodo Maojin, Hako was admitted to the Cho Ray Hospital, the city's biggest hospital. Surprisingly, despite everything that she's been through, Hako escaped with minimal injuries to her body, but her psychological state was another story. Unstable and traumatized due to the Komodo Maojin's possession on her body, Hako was placed on bed rest for a few days on the hospital, long enough for her mind to recover.

That afternoon Hako was enjoying her lunch on her bed, while at the same time watching today's afternoon news on her room's television. Leo had texted her that the MCU's meeting had gone smooth and Commissioner Thanh would announced the unit's formation to the public in about half an hour, so Hako kept her TV glued to the news channel so that she could see the announcement in its full glory. Leo had also texted her about him being appointed as the leader of the MCU and his attempt to have Hako as part of his team, but the young policewoman haven't replied it yet since she's still too busy with her lunch and watching the news.

A knock was heard on her room's door, prompting Hako to quickly place her bowl of soup on her bedside table.

"Come in!" Hako said.

The door opened itself, allowing Krishna to step inside Hako's room. A bouquet of flowers was present on the young man's right hand.

"Yo," Krishna greeted as he closed the door behind him, "How are you doing?"

"Hi," Hako greeted back, a slight smile on her face, "I'm doing quite well, to be honest. The doctors said that I would be discharged tomorrow if not the day after tomorrow."

Krishna nodded, "Good to hear that." He then turned his attention towards a small chair located next to Hako's bed, "Mind if I sit here?"

"Sure."

Krishna immediately sat on the chair, positioning himself to face Hako, before giving the young woman on her bed the bouquet of flowers.

"For me?" Hako blushed as she accepted the flowers from Krishna.

"Yeah," Krishna nodded, "You deserved it, after all. To be honest I've never seen someone as strong as you are…usually victims of Maojin possessions took much longer to recover from the effects of their possession, as they can be quite taxing both physically and mentally. But here you are, looking all fresh and happy again after only a few days after your ordeal. I salute you, Hako."

"Thanks," Hako said as she looked at the bouquet of flowers in her hands, admiring each and every flower in it, "I just thought about the people who I cherish the most in my life when that thing possessed me. Their spiritual encouragement really helped me through my recovery process. Besides…a lizard monster can't keep Dao Ngoc Phuong Anh out of action for too long. The force needs me and I'll do my best to patch myself up and return to my duty of protecting this city."

"Such dedication," Krishna smiled as he slowly stood up, "Well then, I better be going. Take some rest, will ya? I hope you'll get well soon."

"Sure thing!" Hako nodded as she places the bouquet on her bedside table, "Er…Krishna?"

"Yes?" Krishna turned around, having almost exited the room the moment Hako called him.

"Thanks for saving me. I'm really grateful for what you've done the other day and I owe you a lot…Kamen Rider Voyager."

Hearing this, a warm smile escaped Krishna's lips, "Don't mention it. Just doing my job, that's all."

 **xxx**

"Whatcha readin', Karin?"

Having left Hako's room, Krishna immediately went towards the hospital's waiting room, where he saw Karin sitting there with a manga in her hand.

" _One Punch Man_ ," Karin replied as she continued reading, her thoughts already absorbed inside the manga in front of her, "A really amusing and interesting story. Can you believe the guy in this manga actually kill monsters with just one punch?"

"Really?" Krishna raised his eyebrows, the young man immediately sitting next to Karin with interest in his face, "How's that possible?"

"Training, of course," Karin replied, "Do you believe the guy actually did 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 10 kilometers of running every single day?"

"And you think I could do the same?" Krishna chuckled, "I don't know…maybe if I did what the guy in your manga did, I could kill Maojins with one punch too."

"And lose all of your hair?" Karin snickered as she closes her manga, "As if. I prefer the current you anyway. Can't have you being too overpowered, can we?"

"Guess so," Krishna shrugged as he stood up, "Let's go, Karin. We need to patrol the city for any Maojin sightings."

Pocketing her manga, Karin quickly stood up and followed Krishna out of the waiting room, skipping excitedly along the way.

 **xxx**

 _ **Ho Chi Minh City Police Department Headquarters**_

Outside the HCMCPD HQ building, journalists from all over Ho Chi Minh City began to flock, all of them anxiously waiting for Commissioner Thanh to deliver his press conference. There have been rumors that the police commissioner was going to announce the formation of a special taskforce that will investigate a series of mysterious attacks that has been plaguing the city of late. If it's true, it's a sign that the HCMCPD are finally taking these mysterious attacks seriously, especially after the quick-fire attacks on District 4 a few days ago.

Among the journalists crowding in front of the HCMCPD HQ building are Steffi and Vy, the former typing furiously on her laptop while the latter was busy setting up her camera. Unlike the other journalists who had to stand in front of the impromptu podium that the police officers had set up in front of the headquarters building, both Steffi and Vy got the luxury of having seats provided to them by the police, since their Supernatural Investigation Group (SIG) had been appointed as the official civilian liaisons organization of the newly formed MCU. It was Leo's idea to include Steffi's group in the newly formed taskforce during his meeting with Commissioner Thanh yesterday and both Steffi and the commissioner agreed to the plan wholeheartedly.

"I can't believe your brother managed to convince the commissioner to have us help out with the police's newest task force," Vy said, fastening the bolts on her camera's tripod as she spoke, "I mean look at us! Last week we're just an underground blog who reported cryptid sightings all over the city. And now look at us! We're actually legitimately helping out the city's police force here! It's about time that our group's investigations are being taken seriously!"

And with that, Vy, being unable to contain her excitement, started pumping her fists rapidly before jumping up and down like a kindergartener who had just received candy, attracting attention from the other journalists around her and Steffi.

"Settle down," Steffi smirked, shaking her head at her friend jumping excitedly in front of her, "I know that you're all hyped out because of this…heck, even I'm hyped out too! But control yourself, Vy, we're in a formal press conference here!"

Vy stopped jumping as she saw the eyes of the many journalists in the area are all staring weirdly at her. A blush and an embarrassed chuckle later, Vy slowly sat next to Steffi, uneasiness written all over her face.

"Whoops," Vy said sheepishly as she slowly regained her composure, "The camera's all ready to record by the way."

"Nice," Steffi nodded, giving Vy a thumbs up, "The wireless link between your camera and my laptop has been established and it is now connected to my Ustream account. I've also embedded the stream on our website, so that our regular visitors could see the press conference too."

"Oh boy," Vy grinned, "The days of us being mocked online will finally come to a close! Finally the people of Ho Chi Minh City will take the cryptids issue seriously! By the way, have you seen Kim? She's supposed to be here from five minutes ago."

"She's running a bit late," Steffi replied, "She's still at the market shopping for ingredients to cook our dinner later."

 **xxx**

 _ **District 5**_

Kim lets out a frustrated sigh as she slammed her face against her car's steering wheel.

It has been a long morning for the bleached-haired young woman. What had started off as an innocent shopping trip to a market near Steffi's apartment has turned into a wild goose chase around Ho Chi Minh City for the one vital ingredient that Kim needed for the spicy fish soup that she's going to cook for the SIG members later tonight.

The actual fish itself.

While Kim found most of her ingredients in the first market, she was shocked to find out that the market's fish supply hasn't been restocked over the early hours of the day. Thinking that it was a mere coincidence, Kim went to another market located a few blocks away, only to find out that the market also hasn't received their daily fish supply earlier this morning. This prompts Kim to travel around the city in search of her valuable ingredient, only to come away with nothing.

An Dong Market in the city's District 5 was the seventh market that Kim has visited and like the 6 previous ones, they also haven't received their daily fish supply, much to the disappointment of Kim and several housewives who also went shopping in that market.

" _What the Hell is going on?_ " Kim's mind questioned as she lets out a frustrated sigh, " _Don't tell me the city's having a fish shortage…_ "

Kim then glanced at the digital clock on her car's speedometer, which displayed the numbers " **13:12**." Immediately Kim's eyes went wide after seeing those numbers.

"Shit!" Kim cursed as she starts up her car's engine, "I'm late for the press conference at the city's police headquarters! Steffi's so gonna kill me for this!"

 **xxx**

As Kim was driving on a small road that runs next to the Ben Nghe Canal (a small canal running off the larger Saigon River that splits through Districts 1, 4, 5, and 8) on her way to the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department Headquarters, suddenly without warning a figure crawled out from the canal and into the street, lying right on the path of Kim's car. Clearly startled by the figure's sudden presence, Kim applied her brakes hastily, her car's tires screeching loudly as it ground itself into a complete halt a mere inches away from the lying figure.

" _Fuck!_ " Kim cursed underneath her breath as she got out of her car, " _Why the fuck would someone lie on the middle of the road like that?!_ "

But soon her rage turned into concern once she heard whimpers of pain coming out from the figure. Immediately Kim rushed to the figure's side, who turned out to be a middle-aged man garbed in a fisherman's attire, all torn up with bleeding cuts and bruises all over his body.

"Oh my God!" Kim gasped as she picked up the man and brought him to the roadside, "What happened?"

"Monster…" the man groaned, clearly in sheer pain, "There's a monster attacking our boat…"

"Monster?!" Kim gasped, " _Could it be…a cryptid?_ "

"My friends…" the man continued, his voice growing weaker and weaker, "Save…them…"

"Don't worry," Kim said reassuringly, taking out her cellphone, "I'll get some help."

After calling for an ambulance to pick the injured man up and leaving him somewhere safe and secure, Kim slowly made her way towards the canal, picking up a few stones along the way. As she approaches the canal bank, a horrifying sight soon greeted Kim's eyes.

Several small fishing boats were scattered all over the canal, most of them having being turned upside-down with bodies lying around them. Others were sinking, with huge holes being torn into the boats' bodies. Fishing nets were torn all over the place, and while fishes who were caught just a few minutes ago were lucky to escape into the waters, their deceased brethren were left floating on the canal surface, some of them partially eaten by predators.

Kim had to hold the urge to throw her entire stomach contents up after seeing everything in front of her.

"Help! Help!"

Turning towards the source of the cries, Kim saw a fishing boat docked nearby, with its three occupants cowering in fear on board, each of them bearing injuries. And towering over the trio on the boat was the Seahorse Maojin, a fishing net filled with the boat's catch on his right hand.

" _A cryptid!_ " Kim muttered as she hid herself behind a nearby bush, clutching the stones that she had picked up.

 **xxx**

A few meters down the same road, Krishna was riding on his motorcycle alone when he sensed something distressing in the air, forcing him to suddenly pull over.

" _ **What is it?**_ " Karin asked from her partner's jacket pocket.

"A Maojin's nearby," Krishna said, a determined look underneath his helmet as he floors his motorcycle, "Let's go!"

 **xxx**

"Your abuse of our brothers and sisters have come to an end," the Seahorse Maojin said, taunting the fishermen trio with the net on his hand, "Today they shall be liberated and you…you shall be punished for your crimes against them!"

And with that the Seahorse Maojin tossed the net overboard, releasing all the fishes in it into the canal waters.

"Nooo!" cried one of the fishermen, "We have spent hours catching those! How are we supposed to feed our families if we didn't get anything?"

And the answer that the fisherman got was a swift grab on the face by the Seahorse Maojin and as his friends watched on in fear, the Seahorse Maojin dunked the fisherman's head into the canal water, practically waterboarding the poor chap.

"How are our friends supposed to feed their children if you keep taking them away from their homes?" the Seahorse Maojin asked back as the fisherman in his grasp struggled to breathe, "That's right. Now suffer the asphyxiation that our kind has felt whenever you took them away from their habitat!"

Before the fisherman could drown, however, a stone was thrown onto the Seahorse Maojin's face, attracting the kaijin's attention as he forcefully dragged the fisherman's head out of the water.

"Who did that?!" growled the Seahorse Maojin, rubbing the spot where the stone had hit him, "Show yourself!"

Kim slowly emerged out from her hiding spot, her fingers tinkering with the remaining stones in her possession.

"I did that," Kim said bluntly, her eyes staring directly at the Seahorse Maojin's, "You got a problem with that?"

"How dare you interrupt my mission, you puny human?!" the Seahorse Maojin grumbled, trying his best to maintain his emotions and focus, "Stay out of this you wench! You have no right to interfere!"

"Tell that to the men whose livelihood you just threw away," Kim replied, pointing at the fishermen cowering behind the Seahorse Maojin, "Well don't get me wrong, I don't know these men personally…but I don't like it if someone decides to go out and interfere with their jobs that they do so dedicatedly for their wives and children. Be it a human…or a freak of nature like you. So yeah, of course, it's my right to interfere!"

Kim threw another stone at the Seahorse Maojin's face, enraging the kaijin even further.

"That's it!" the Seahorse Maojin yelled, jumping off the boat as bluish energy began to gather on the tip of his nose, "Take this!"

Kim was forced to jump out of the way as the Seahorse Maojin fired a thin blue energy beam from his nose, striking the ground near Kim's feet and igniting them on fire.

"Shit!" Kim cursed as she regained her footing, her eyes going wide at the now burning patch of land in front of her, "That was a close one!"

"Don't you care about the environment?" the Seahorse Maojin asked as he charged through the flames, swiping a punch at Kim that the young woman was unable to avoid, "Don't you care about the feelings of these fishes whom these men had taken away from their homes, from their families?!"

"I do care!" Kim grunted in pain as she was punched twice on the face by the Seahorse Maojin, resulting in a couple of bruises on her cheeks, "But these men…as far as I know from their boats and methods that they're traditional fishermen! Fishermen who still respected their nature and wished to sustain both themselves and their environment in a sustainable manner! There's no way they would intend to ruin the environment the way that they think you would…don't lump these honorable men and those modern fishermen who are actually ruining nature together!"

"You bitch!" the Seahorse Maojin cursed, grabbing Kim by her throat and hoisting her up into the air, "To us Water Tribe Maojins…all fishermen are just the same. There's no such thing as fishermen who respected nature!"

"Let her go."

Both Kim and the Seahorse Maojin turned around to see Krishna already standing nearby, the ScanDriver in the man's right hand.

"Man, you Maojins are getting lower and lower each passing day, huh? Who taught you to hit girls like that? Your mom?" Krishna asked as he approached the two, placing the ScanDriver on his waist as he does so.

 **READY!**

"You…" the Seahorse Maojin growled as he tossed Kim aside, "You're Voyager, aren't you?"

"No, I'm freaking Tom Cruise," Krishna replied sarcastically as he took out his Thunder Kabuto card, " **Henshin!** "

 **ACE HENSHIN! THUNDER KABUTO!**

Transforming into Kamen Rider Voyager, Krishna turned his attention towards the slightly bruised Kim, who was still trying to catch her breath after being subjected to the Seahorse Maojin's choke-hold.

"You okay?" Voyager asked.

Kim nodded.

Voyager then gestured for the three fishermen on the boat to evacuate themselves, which they did almost immediately.

"Call your friends for help," Voyager told Kim, "I'll handle our friend the Six of Cups here."

Kim nodded again, before coming to the fishermen's aid, taking out her cellphone in the process.

"My name is Voyager!" Voyager exclaimed, pointing at himself before pointing at the Seahorse Maojin, "I shine light in the darkness and I vanquish evil!"

As Voyager and the Seahorse Maojin clashed, unknown to the two combatants, Tran had made herself known in the vicinity, her eyes glowing orange with hatred as she glared at Voyager.

" _ **Time for you to die, Voyager**_ ," Tran muttered in Star's voice, as her entire form was overtaken by a black and orange glow, transforming into Star seconds afterwards.

 **xxx**

 _ **Ho Chi Minh City Police Department Headquarters**_

The press conference at the HCMCPD HQ had gone smoothly without any hitches and despite Kim's absence, the live stream on the SIG's website had gone without any problems, mainly thanks to Steffi being able to cover for Kim's role and Vy's expertise with technological stuff. With Commissioner Thanh and the newly promoted Leo already finished delivering their respective speeches in introducing the newly formed MCU, the event now shifts into a formal lunch, with journalists and the other invited guests being treated to an exquisite banquet just outside the HCMCPD HQ building.

As the guests were enjoying themselves at the banquet, Minh decided to slip away quietly to the HCMCPD HQ building's lobby, bringing with her a glass of champagne. Sitting on the lobby's stairs, Minh slowly sips her drink, reflecting back on how well the day had went, but at the same time, there's one thing that's still bothering her mind.

 **xxx**

 _ **Three days ago**_

" _Voyager…he's the one who had murdered your father," Tran told Minh after the latter had placed her on the Bentley's backseat._

 _A still surprised Minh was shocked even further by this revelation, "Voyager? You mean the one who had fought alongside my father all these years?"_

 _Tran nodded weakly, "Yes…from what I've remembered, your father's murderer was an armored warrior themed after a beetle with powers over electricity, and Voyager fits the description perfectly."_

 _Minh was left speechless by what Tran had just told her. She could still vividly remember her father's last moments from two years ago, when he and Tran were ambushed on their way to a Lotus Industries-affiliated hospital to check the progression of Tran's cancer. Minh's father used the last of his strength to carry Tran back home, before dying afterwards in front of Minh's eyes. After Tran had recovered from the psychological trauma that came with the ambush, she told Minh about what her father's attacker had looked like._

 _And Kamen Rider Voyager…being a beetle-themed armored warrior with electrical powers, he's the number one suspect of the murder of Minh's father._

"Voyager? Why? Why did you do this to us?" _Minh's thoughts went wild as Thao drove her and Tran back to the LIT,_ "We trusted you…I've trusted you…and this is how you re-pay our trust?! By taking away the life of the man I've cherished the most? He was your partner too, Voyager! As much as I wanted to refuse to believe this…but I'm sorry Voyager…if our paths cross, I'll be the one who will avenge my father…by taking away your life!"

 **xxx**

" _Tran's feeling well enough to track down Voyager for me_ ," Minh thought to herself as she kept on sipping her champagne, " _I hope that she'll give me some information about him…so that I could set up the day when everything's going to be settled, once and for all!_ "

As Minh finished up her champagne, she noticed a familiar feminine figure clad in her police uniform walking up the lobby stairs, a huge stack of files in the figure's hands. It was clear that the figure was struggling with her files as she stepped up the stairs, trying her best not to drop them. Seeing that the figure needed help, Minh decided to lend her a hand.

"Hey," Minh called out as she approached the figure, "Need some help with those?"

"Sure," the figure replied, placing her files on the floor, "Carry half of these to my office."

Minh nodded, picking up half of the files while the figure picked up the other half. As Minh adjusted the files in her hands, she couldn't help to notice that the figure that she's helping right now looked familiar to her.

And then it hit her.

"Thy?" Minh smiled as she looked at the figure next to her, "Is that you?"

Thy replied with a smile of her own.

 **xxx**

Thy's office was not that far from the lobby and after a brief three minute walk, Minh and Thy had arrived to their destination.

"It's been a while, ne," Minh said after she and Thy had placed the files on the latter's desk, "I actually saw you in the meeting this morning, but I couldn't bear to disturb you. Anyway, congratulations on your promotion!"

Thy giggled, "Thanks Minh. It's a huge honor for me to work for the department's newest elite taskforce. I'll do my best to make the people of this city proud!"

As Thy arranged the files on her desk, Minh leaned herself against a nearby sofa facing the office's window. The window provided the office with an overlooking view of the busy streets of Ho Chi Minh City, packed with motorcycles just like every other day.

"We haven't talked much since we've graduated from middle school," Thy said after she had finished arranging the files, sitting next to Minh as they admired the bustling scenery in front of them, "I'm sorry for your loss, by the way."

"It's okay," Minh smiled sadly, "I mean it has been two years since my father's death. He wouldn't want me to wallow in sadness for too long, you know. Inheriting his job as the number one person of Lotus Industries has been a huge honor for me…and along with my new responsibilities, I got really, really busy, hence why I haven't contacted you in a while. You know me, I'm always doing things to keep myself busy so that I won't get bored in life and I rarely go out with anyone unless it's business-related."

Thy lets out a slight chuckle upon hearing that, "Classic Minh, you haven't changed a bit since our middle school days."

"And how about you, Thy? How's life lately?" Minh asked, "Other than your promotion that is."

"I enrolled into the police academy after I've graduated high school," Thy replied, "My dream has always been to protect the smiles of everyone in this city, especially after what happened to me and my family ten years ago."

"Ah, the Kira incident," Minh recalled, reminiscing the serial killer that had terrorized Ho Chi Minh City in 2013, "I heard they haven't really caught him, have they?"

"Sadly yes," Thy nodded, "After the police had uncovered a mass grave containing all of his victims at his backyard, he slipped away from the general public's eyes undetected. It's like he literally faded away from the surface of the Earth! But something inside me tells me that he's still out there, claiming more and more innocent lives…"

Thy began to clench her fists as she struggled to contain her emotions. Seeing this, Minh immediately placed a comforting hand on Thy's shoulder.

"It's okay," Thy smiled softly at her friend's gesture, "That's why I became a policewoman in the first place. I want to protect the smiles of everyone in this city…so that they don't have to suffer what I had suffered through."

"Good luck," Minh smiled back, "I hope that you'll catch Kira soon."

At that moment Minh's iPhone began to ring, prompting the young woman to pick it up.

"Hello? Thao? You're already at the front lobby? Okay," Minh immediately hung up her phone before turning her attention towards Thy, "I must go now, I have other things to attend to."

"Sure thing," Thy said, standing up as she went towards her office's door and opening it, "I'll send you off."

"Thanks," Minh said as she headed towards the door, giving Thy one last look before exiting, "Let's talk again if we have time, shall we?"

"Sure," Thy nodded.

Minh bid farewell to her friend before taking her leave, passing by Steffi who was on her way to Thy's office. The young policewoman was clearly surprised to see Steffi suddenly showing up on her office's doorstep.

"Yo," Steffi greeted, "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Thy replied, letting Steffi into her office before closing the office's door.

"Nice place you got here," Steffi commented, admiring Thy's office as her eyes gazed upon her surroundings, the street-overlooking window included, "With a nice view to boot! You're sure lucky to call this room your office."

"Thanks!" Thy smiled as she sat on her recliner, her desk in front of her, "Now, why do you want to visit me here?"

"To congratulate you, duh," Steffi chuckled as she sat in front of Thy's desk, facing the desk's owner, "I mean you and my brother are now part of an elite taskforce of this city's police department…you should feel honored by it."

"Same goes to you," Thy winked, "Your brother did pulled a lot of strings in order for that little group of yours to collaborate with ours. I mean...what you girls are doing are quite dangerous, you know. Investigating creatures from the unknown in order for the general public to know about their existence…that's kinda crazy."

"We get that a lot," Steffi grinned, before her eyes notices the files stacked on Thy's desk, "What are those?"

Thy blinked, "What are what?" before she realizes what Steffi meant as she glanced at the files on her table, "Oh, these files? These are police reports from concerned citizens that had been coming to our doorstep since yesterday."

A curious Steffi picked up a file and gave it a read as Thy continued, "Due to the unusual nature of these reports, our commissioner compiled them into several files and entrusted them to the newly established MCU for investigation. Due to the task force being formed just today, we were unable to examine these reports further until now."

"Strange fish-man attacking boats…throwing people overboard…releasing fishes caught by local fishermen?" Steffi's eyebrows went up in both astonishment and confusion, "Could it be…"

"…an Unrecorded Lifeform," Thy finished as Steffi placed the file back in the stack, "Barely half an hour since the task force is formed and we've already got ourselves our first assignment."

Suddenly the two were interrupted by the sound of a techno remix of _Go Go Power Rangers_ echoing out of nowhere. Smiling sheepishly, Steffi picked up her cellphone from her jeans pocket.

"My phone," Steffi chuckled uneasily as she answered her phone, "Hello? Kim? Is that you? Where are you? The press conference's over and you've missed the whole thing! Wait…a cryptid? And Voyager's fighting it? Alright, I'll see what I can do."

"What's wrong?" Thy asked.

"It's Kim," Steffi replied, desperation can be heard in her voice, "Voyager's fighting a cryptid at Ben Nghe Canal!"

"What?" Thy gawked in shock.

"C'mon, let's find my brother!" Steffi hollered as she ran out of Thy's office, the policewoman following her suit.

 **xxx**

 **(Cue BGM: Specium Zepellion no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

Having armed himself with the Kaminari Blade, Voyager slashed the Seahorse Maojin twice on the torso, before kicking the kaijin away from him. Stumbling back, the Seahorse Maojin let loose with his nose beams, striking Voyager and his surroundings a few times and causing several small explosions. However the Rider was unfazed, easily swiping away the settling dust with his Kaminari Blade before charging towards the Seahorse Maojin once again.

The Seahorse Maojin tried to resist by swinging his fin-like hands in an attempt to slap Voyager, but the Rider easily parries away the attempt with his left hand, before landing a decisive strike on the Maojin's chest with his Kaminari Blade.

"As expected from a numbered Maojin, they're not as strong as their ranked counterparts," Voyager commented as the Sehaorse Maojin was sent reeling, smoke billowing from the slash wound inflected on his chest.

" _ **Don't get too cocky, Krishna**_ ," Karin reminded, " _ **Let's wrap up this battle before he could regain his strength**_."

"Aye-aye," Voyager nodded, taking out an Overcharge Card…

 **(BGM ends)**

…only for a sudden slash from above to struck Voyager across his chest, forcing him to drop both his Kaminari Blade and his Overcharge Card. Sparks flew from Voyager's chest armor as he stumbled back from the impact of the attack, clearly it has caught him off-guard.

"What the heck was that?!" Voyager gawked.

Standing between Voyager and the Seahorse Maojin was Star, the black _Tyrannosaurus_ -themed warrior wielding a machete-like weapon with a curved, silver blade and a black _Tyrannosaurus_ skull engraved on its hilt, the weapon's handguard was also black in color but leathery in material, a stark contract to the hilt's somewhat crystalline structure.

"Hello, Voyager," Star greeted, his voice calm yet venomous, "We meet again."

"Star," Voyager greeted back, placing his Overcharge Card back in his card holder before retrieving his Kaminari Blade, "Nice to see you again."

"It's been a while since our last battle," Star said, his left hand calmly running itself against the silver blade of his weapon, "And since then you've managed to defeat two Aces. I'm impressed."

"You're here to complement on my ability or you're here to fight me?" Voyager asked rather mockingly.

Star chuckled, "You haven't changed a bit, Voyager. 657 years long, and you've never changed."

"Same with ya," Voyager smirked underneath his helmet, "Now if you excuse me, I need to clean up your subordinate's dirty laundry, thank you very much."

Star turned his attention towards the recovered Seahorse Maojin, the latter clearly relieved at the former's arrival, "Six of Cups, continue your mission. I'll ensure that Voyager will not be a hindrance to you again."

"Yes, sir!" the Seahorse Maojin nodded obediently, before making a dive into the canal waters.

"Wait!" Voyager yelled, the Rider immediately trying to give chase only for Star to point his weapon at him.

"Your opponent is me now!" Star declared, gripping his weapon tightly, "Feel the might of my Destruction Blade!"

 **(Cue BGM: Yoshikage Kira Just Wants a Quiet Life – Chikayo Fukuda from the JoJo's Bizarre Advenure: All Star Battle OST)**

Immediately both Voyager and Star clashed, their Kaminari Blade and Destruction Blade dueling each other in fierce swordplay combat. Kim and the fishermen watched on from the sidelines as the two warriors continued their swordfight, neither of them gaining the upper-hand over another.

" _It's like the two of them had been fighting one another for quite some time!_ " Kim thought, " _Are they rivals or something?_ "

After several seconds of stalemate Star had managed to find an opening, landing a devastating slash across Voyager's stomach with his Destruction Blade. Groaning in pain, Voyager clutched the left side of his stomach as smoke flew out from where the Destruction Blade had met his armor, the Rider's grip on his Kaminari Blade becoming tighter. Star raised his Destruction Blade to the air, ready to perform a vertical slash onto Voyager's body, but this time the black and purple Rider was ready. As the Destruction Blade made a dash towards his head, Voyager quickly lifts up his Kaminari Blade, the two weapons clanging with each other fiercely as a result.

"My God!" Kim yelled as she closed her ears, the collision from the two weapons had resulted in a deafening noise that was too much for her ears.

Quickly the two warriors were at it again, the Kaminari Blade and Destruction Blade once again dancing with each other in a show of finesse and power. This time though, it was Voyager who found an opening, landing a slash onto Star's right shoulder that managed to stun the Maojin vanguard.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Star commented as he clutched his right shoulder, the Destruction Blade now on his left hand, "As I expect from the one who will stop at nothing in being a thorn in our side."

"Fighting you is not my priority right now," Voyager said as he took out his Overcharge Card before inserting it into his left hip slot, "Now step aside! I've got bigger fish to fry!"

 **THUNDER OVERCHARGE!**

" **Lightning Edge!** " Voyager yelled, purple electricity surging into the Kaminari Blade.

Letting out a determined yell, Voyager slashed the air in front of him once, causing a purple crescent-shaped wave of electricity to be discharged from the Kaminari Blade. The wave went straight towards Star, who unfortunately saw it coming.

" **Apocalypse Shield!** " Star yelled as he held out his left hand, black energy surging into it before materializing itself into a pitch black, diamond-shaped shield with a silver, ribcage-like design engraved to it.

The newly formed Apocalypse Shield predictably cancels out Voyager's Lightning Edge attack, much to the Rider's surprise.

"Is that what you've got?" Star asked mockingly as he crouched down, black energy surging into the Destruction Blade, "It's my turn now."

 **(BGM ends)**

Before Star could launch his special attack, the Maojin vanguard was struck by several bullet fire to his chest, startling him to the point of cancelling his planned attack altogether. Voyager turned around to see Leo, Thy, and Steffi with a platoon of Kevlar-wearing police officers, each of them (with the exception of Steffi) wielding their brand new Strike pistols that Lotus Industries had supplied them with.

"You guys!" Voyager said in relief as he saw the cavalry behind him, "Boy am I glad to see you!"

"It's okay, that's our job anyway," Leo smiled, before he turned his attention towards Kim, "You okay?"

"I'm good," Kim nodded, "But the fishermen…"

"Don't worry," Leo said reassuringly, "We'll take care of them."

"You bastards!" Star cursed as he dusts off his smoking chest, "Human weaponry…they've never hurt me before!"

"Welcome to 2023 ya son of a bitch," Leo asserted, "We humans are trying our best in keeping up with you Unrecorded Lifeforms!"

"I won't forget this!" Star yelled, before he leaped off into the skies, vanishing from sight.

As the policemen underneath Leo's command took Kim and the fishermen to safety, Voyager went towards his motorcycle, giving it a gentle rub before mounting it.

"The Maojin's heading down this canal towards Saigon River," Voyager told Leo as the latter approached him, "I'm going to intercept him with my motorcycle."

"Do you need our help?" Leo asked.

Voyager paused for a few seconds, before giving out a slight nod, "Just in case that black Maojin returns."

"Who's that guy anyway?" Leo asked again, "When we came here, you two were fighting very fiercely…it's just like you two had previous history together."

"His name's Star," Voyager replied, "One of the Maojins' most powerful warriors, it is the vanguard of the Maojins, their protector safe to speak. And because of that, he's one of my biggest rivals."

"I see," Leo nodded.

"We have fought each other numerous times," Voyager said again, "Each of them ending in stalemates. And to be honest…if you guys hadn't interfere, Star would've won. So I'm probably going to need your help if he shows up again. But if he doesn't…just leave the Maojin to me."

Leo saluted Voyager upon hearing that, "Gotcha!"

Nodding, Voyager turned on his motorcycle and gave its accelerator a twist. This caused purple energy to surge out from Voyager's ScanDriver and into the motorcycle's body, slowly transforming its paintjob from black to purple as well as adding additional armor to the motorcycle's front and sides. A purple Japanese rhinoceros beetle's horn materializes itself between the motorcycle's headlights, the Japanese kanji for "thunder" engraved in silver on it, while purple armoring with silver and red highlights adorn the motorcycle's sides.

"Cool…" Leo gasped as he saw the transformed motorcycle before his eyes.

"The Machine Adventurer," Voyager introduces his Rider Machine, "It's an improvement over my usual motorcycle. I would like to go through its features one by one for you but we have a Maojin to defeat out there!"

"Good luck," Leo patted Voyager on the shoulder.

And with that Voyager sped off, pursuing the Seahorse Maojin on his Machine Adventurer. Following him a few minutes afterwards were Leo and his MCU team, their sirens blaring loudly in order for traffic to give them way.

 **xxx**

"Help us!"

Cries of help echoed throughout the air as the Seahorse Maojin had resumed his attack on humanity, this time attacking a number of fishing boats docked at a small jetty located near the mouth of the Ben Nghe Canal. Fishermen and fisherwomen alike fled in terror as the Seahorse Maojin single-handedly wrecked their boats, tossing their day's catch back into the canal waters, before blasting the other docked boats with both his nose beams and a powerful stream of water fired from the slit on his abdomen.

"Yes! Yes!" the Seahorse Maojin cackled maniacally as he witnessed the people fleeing the jetty in terror, "This is what you'll get for capturing our kind!"

Suddenly the Seahorse Maojin was interrupted by the noise of the Machine Adventurer arriving on the scene, the purple Japanese rhinoceros beetle-themed motorcycle immediately revving into the jetty and heading straight towards the Maojin. Performing a wheelie, Voyager immediately slammed his Rider Machine's front wheel against the Seahorse Maojin's chest, sending the Maojin reeling back in pain.

"Yo," Voyager greeted casually as he dismounted from the Machine Adventurer, his Kaminari Blade in hand, "You and me. Round two, now!"

"You really don't know when to quit, do you Voyager?!" the Seahorse Maojin growled in anger as he regained his footing, "Let's go!"

 **(Cue BGM: Orb no Pinch – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

Immediately the two went at it again, Voyager going on the offensive with his Kaminari Blade but this time the Seahorse Maojin had learned from his previous battle, easily dodging each of the weapon's swipes before landing a couple of punches of his own onto Voyager's torso. Clearly taken aback by the Seahorse Maojin's sudden improvement in combat, Voyager was defenseless against two point-blank shots of the Seahorse Maojin's nose beams, the two shots hitting Voyager square in his chest. Clutching his smoldering chest, Voyager stumbled back, using his Kaminari Blade as support as he fell down to one knee.

"Holy shit!" Voyager cursed, "How the heck did he became stronger in such short notice?!"

"I've learned a lot since our previous encounter, Voyager," the Seahorse Maojin told the Rider, "From our battles throughout these past hundreds of years, from that encounter against that blasted ice-wielding mage, and also from that battle that we had earlier…the determination to serve my Tribe…it's flowing through my veins!"

"You know what they say, if you're driven to do something you can literally do anything," Voyager commented as he slowly stood up.

" _ **That interruption from Star must have given him the chance to fully recover himself…**_ " added Karin.

"We're fighting near my element now, Voyager," the Seahorse Maojin said, taking note of the jetty's presence at the water's edge, "Do you think you have what it takes to stop me?"

"Try me!" Voyager replied, taking out his Thunder Hopper card before inserting it into his right hip slot.

 **FIVE ABILITY! THUNDER HOPPER!**

Leaping into the air with his enhanced jumping capabilities, Voyager gripped the Kaminari Blade tightly as he prepared himself to perform a vertical slash onto the Seahorse Maojin's body, only for the kaijin to let loose with a stream of pressurized water from his abdomen. The water stream struck Voyager head on, causing the Rider to splutter out in surprise as he plummeted to the ground with a loud thud.

 **(BGM ends)**

As the Seahorse Maojin laughed in delight at Voyager's predicament, Leo and his MCU squad arrived on the scene just in time, with Steffi and Kim quickly videotaping the fight from the sidelines. Immediately Leo pointed his Strike pistol at the Seahorse Maojin, only for the downed Voyager to gesture towards Leo to stand down.

"Eh?" Leo blinked as he slowly lowered his weapon, "But why?"

"I've told you," Voyager replied as he slowly stood up, his armor and bodysuit soaking wet from the Seahorse Maojin's attack, "Leave the Maojin to me. Star's not here yet so you guys aren't needed for now." Letting out a slight chuckle, Voyager stabbed his Kaminari Blade onto the ground, before taking out a familiar looking card from his card holder.

It was the Inferno Komodo Maojin Card. Immediately everyone's eyes went wide upon the sight of the card.

"That's!" Steffi gasped.

"An Ace up his sleeve…" Leo added, now realizing what Voyager had planned.

"Karin, we haven't tried one of these in quite a while," Voyager said as he opened up his ScanDriver's tab, taking out the Thunder Kabuto card afterwards. This caused the purple armoring on Voyager's body to disintegrate into purple motes of light, leaving Voyager in his bare black bodysuit, "You think you can handle this?"

" _ **Well...can't hurt to try, right?**_ " Karin replied.

Voyager nodded, a smirk appearing underneath his helmet, "I knew you're gonna say that."

"What are you trying to do right now?" asked the Seahorse Maojin.

"Bringing up the heat," Voyager simply replied with that, before inserting the Inferno Komodo card into the ScanDriver and slamming its tab shut.

 **ACE HENSHIN! INFERNO KOMODO!**

A red ring of energy bursts out from the ScanDriver as an energetic American rock-and-roll electric guitar chord was played out from the device. The ring splits into two, scanning through Voyager's body from top to bottom as the translucent screen on the ScanDriver glowed red, a white image of a Komodo dragon being emblazoned on it. Voyager's chest insignia changed as well, from the usual purple circle into a fiery red one, with a Komodo dragon's head sticking out from its right side.

Red grid lines began to materialize around the bodysuit, configuring themselves into bulky pieces of armor that stuck themselves onto Voyager's bodysuit. Colored fiery red with dashes of silver and gold mixed into them, the greaves, gauntlets, and torso armors were almost Medieval-like in terms of design, while the shoulder armors resembled the skulls of dragons, also painted in the same fiery red color as the other armor pieces with silver highlights. The most striking feature were the gauntlets, which are bulky in design and also fiery red in color, with silver highlighting and golden flame-like patterns adorning them.

Finally red grid lines began to materialize around Voyager's helmet, forming a fiery red dragon-themed helmet that looked Medieval in design. It has a crest that stuck upwards, with a pair of golden horns at the tip of the crest, while two more horns, this time silver in color, were present just above Voyager's yellow eyes. The mouthpiece was silver in color and is somewhat identical to Voyager's default form, however with a slightly much more serrated design. The transformation sequence was finished by the flashing of Voyager's eyes, three times as usual, with red lines appearing on the arms, thighs, legs, and sides of the bodysuit's torso.

At a glance, Voyager's new, bulkier form looked almost identical to the Dragonscale Armor of _Skyrim_ , only much fiercer.

"Holy moly…" Steffi gasped in awe upon the sight of Voyager's new form.

"That is one cool looking armor…" added an equally awestruck Kim.

Leo, on the other hand, remained silent, but lets out a confident smirk.

" _I know you got this, Voyager!_ " Leo thought, " _That new set of armor looked more than enough to overwhelm that Unrecorded Lifeform!_ "

 **(Cue BGM: Burnmite no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

"Kamen Rider Voyager, Inferno Form," Voyager introduced himself, checking out his armor in awe at the same time, before he proceeds to point at the Seahorse Maojin, "Evil…shall be burned into crisp!"

"So you changed your color, big deal," the Seahorse Maojin scoffed, "That wouldn't change a thing!"

Immediately the Seahorse Maojin charged forward, his fin-like hands ready to give a beat-down that Voyager would never forget. Letting out a rage-filled roar, the Seahorse Maojin slapped Voyager once on his chest…

…only for nothing to happen.

Clearly surprised by this, the Seahorse Maojin landed several more punches and slaps onto Voyager's torso, but the Rider didn't budge at all. To the Seahorse Maojin, attacking Voyager in the Rider's current form is just as fruitless as trying to punch your way through an iron wall, and not before long the Six of Cups gradually decreased the intensity of his attacks, fatigue clearly setting into his entire body.

Pleased at this turn of events, Voyager smirked underneath his helmet, "My turn."

Immediately Voyager grabbed the Seahorse Maojin by his neck, before literally lifting the kaijin off the ground with just one hand! The Seahorse Maojin's eyes went wide in surprise as he struggled for air, Voyager's grip slowly crushing his windpipe. Seeing that his opponent was struggling, Voyager tossed the Seahorse Maojin aside, sending the creature flying onto a nearby iron pillar.

Much to the shock of everyone in the sidelines, the pillar in question was immediately bent underneath the Seahorse Maojin's weight.

"Holy shit…" Kim gasped.

"Such power…" Steffi added, her eyes wide in disbelief.

Slowly Voyager went towards the downed Seahorse Maojin, forcing the kaijin to his feet before performing a series of bone-crushing knee strikes onto the Seahorse Maojin's chin, finishing the combo with a back-breaking judo throw that instantly stunned the Seahorse Maojin.

But Voyager wasn't finished there just yet. Grabbing onto the Seahorse Maojin's legs, Voyager spun around, slamming the kaijin head-first onto another pillar, disorienting the Six of Cups. The brutal onslaught hasn't finished though, with Voyager grabbing the Seahorse Maojin by his head and slamming him head-first several times onto the concrete jetty floor, black blood oozing from the Seahorse Maojin's nose and mouth as a result.

Wrapping up this now totally one-sided fight, Voyager hoisted the Seahorse Maojin's body over his head before throwing him to the ground once again, breaking what's left of the kaijin's bones.

"Ouch," Steffi winced upon the sight of that attack, "That's brutal…even for the standards of the WWE!"

"The finisher," Voyager announced stoically, taking out an Overcharge Card before inserting it into his right hip slot.

 **INFERNO OVERCHARGE!**

Voyager's fists went up in flames, the Rider clenching them tightly. As the battered Seahorse Maojin slowly stood up, Voyager immediately went in for the kill, landing a barrage of jabs onto the hapless Maojin's chest.

"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!" Voyager cried as he punched the Seahorse Maojin repeatedly, for the Maojin, every punch to his chest was equivalent to a dump truck crashing onto the kaijin head-on.

"Holy shit!" Steffi gasped, "Is that…"

"…a motherfucking…" Kim continued.

"…JoJo reference?!" Leo finished.

Realizing what they had just said, Steffi, Kim, and Leo blinked at each other awkwardly.

"ORAAA!" Voyager yelled as he landed the last punch with his left fist onto the Seahorse Maojin's chest, before supercharging his right fist with fiery energy surging from his ScanDriver, " **Inferno…Machinegun…Impact!** "

And with that, Voyager delivered the finishing blow, a crippling fiery uppercut onto the Seahorse Maojin's chin, which sends the kaijin flying into the air and through the jetty's roof. Seconds later the Seahorse Maojin impacted against the jetty floor with a deafening thud, his entire body exploding the moment he touched the ground.

 **(BGM ends)**

After the smoke and fire had died out, what's left of the Seahorse Maojin was an unconscious Damian and a Maojin Card lying nearby. The card depicted a seahorse swimming in an ocean, with a blue line on the card's left hand side. The words " **WATER SEAHORSE** " were emblazoned in white on said line, while a small blue swirling circle icon was seen on the card's top left corner. The back of the card was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **6** superimposed on a cup engraved on it.

Approaching the unconscious Damian, Voyager signaled for Leo to come closer, the newly appointed leader of the Maojin Counter Unit obliging immediately. As Leo laid his eyes on the unconscious Damian, immediately they went wide, with Leo apparently recognizing the man in front of him.

"That's Damian Morgan…" Leo gasped, "A Jamaican national, he was reported missing by his fellow crew members of the cruise ship _Olympus_ that was docked at Vung Tau yesterday. Can't believe the Unrecorded Lifeforms had used his body…"

"Believe me, they would use just about _**anyone**_ to achieve their goals…" Voyager replied, his mind remembering the poor balloon seller and Hako, both of them falling victim to the thrall of the Maojins. Clenching his fists slowly, Voyager determines himself to stop them no matter what before any more innocent blood were to be shed.

"I'll take Damian to the hospital," Leo told Voyager as he picked up Damian's prone body, "Hopefully he'll be back with his crewmen in a few days' time."

"Please do," Voyager nodded, picking up the Water Seahorse card in the process, "As for you, you're coming with me."

Placing the newly acquired Maojin Card in his card holder, Voyager took out his Inferno Komodo card from his ScanDriver, his armor disintegrating into red motes of light as he reverts back to Krishna. Delivering a two fingered salute to everyone in the sidelines, Krishna mounted his motorcycle who had also reverted back to normal, putting on his helmet, before revving his engine and slowly making his way out of the jetty.

"Hey!"

Krishna stopped his motorcycle in time to see Steffi and Kim running up towards him, enthusiastic grins displayed clearly on their faces. Letting out a smile of his own, Krishna waved for the two to come closer to him.

"What is it, girls?" Krishna asked once Steffi and Kim had stood near his motorcycle.

"Well…we're going to have this dinner at our place…" Steffi replied.

"With spicy fish soup!" Kim chirped in, "Don't worry Steff, I'm pretty sure those fishermen back there will give me some free ones as a thank you gift for helping them."

"Technically I did all the hard work," Krishna smirked.

"And who distracted that cryptid long enough for you to show up?" Kim winked.

Krishna rolled his eyes, sighing in defeat as Kim roared out in laughter.

"Anyway," Steffi continued once Kim had recovered from her hysterics, "We're going to have dinner at my apartment tonight and I was wondering…would you join us?"

Krishna shook his head, "As much as I wanted to, I can't. I need to patrol this city 24/7 for any signs of those Maojins."

Immediately both Steffi and Kim gave Krishna their best puppy dog eyes impression, in an attempt to sway the young man into joining them for dinner. Knowing how persistent these two were, Krishna lets out a hearty laugh, finally giving in to their offer.

"Come to think of it, I do need some energy to do my patrols properly," Krishna chuckled, "Alright, I'm in. Just show me the way there and I'll follow you two."

"Believe me, no one can resist Steffi's spicy fish soup," Kim teased, earning herself a slap on the back of her head by Steffi.

"C'mon, my soup is good but it's not _**that**_ good," Steffi laughed, "But yeah, you should try it. We also need someone to prepare stuff back home and we're hoping that you could help us."

"Hold on, let me ask my partner first," Krishna said, taking out Karin's card form from his jacket pocket, "What do you say about that?"

" _ **To be honest I haven't had human food in quite a while,**_ " Karin mused as she imagined herself eating Steffi's spicy fish soup, " _ **Alright, I'm in.**_ "

"The more the merrier," Krishna smiled, "Alright, let's go to your place. I'm kinda curious what kind of place that you intrepid supernatural investigators have."

Unknown to everyone, a familiar and ominous visor-like eye was watching the gang from a distance. Hiding from plain sight behind a series of trees nearby the jetty, Star had witnessed everything, from the battle between Voyager and the Seahorse Maojin, the latter's destruction, as well as the former's new form. Clutching his fists in anger, Star slowly and discreetly made his retreat before anyone could notice his presence.

"Damn you Voyager!" Star cursed, "He's getting stronger and stronger by the minute…I must not lag behind!"

In frustration, Star slashed his Destruction Blade at the nearby trees, slicing them in half in one go.

 **xxx**

 _ **One hour later**_

A visibly bruised and slightly injured Tran waited in front of the iconic Ben Thanh Market, her eyes scanning the bustling traffic in front of her. Noticing a cobalt blue 2013 Acura ILX sedan among the many vehicles, immediately Tran waved her hands rapidly, signaling the car to come closer. Once the car had pulled up to her, Tran immediately entered the car through its rear passenger door.

"How did it go?" Minh asked from the front passenger seat as Tran puts on her seatbelt, before Thao proceeds to drive the car back to the LIT, "Did you get any intel on Voyager?"

"Yeah," Tran nodded slowly, "I saw Voyager fighting against a Maojin today…apparently he has a new form now."

"Interesting," Minh smirked, taking out a Maojin Card from her blazer pocket. It was a Thunder Tribe card, with the same purple line and lightning bolt icon, but this time the card's image depicted a firefly surrounded by lightning bolts, its abdomen glowing purple. The back of the card, as usual, was gunmetal grey in color, with the stylized number **9** superimposed on a shield engraved on it. The words " **LIGHTNING FIREFLY** " were engraved on the card's purple line in white, "And what a coincidence as well…I've just gotten myself my own power-up. Things should be interesting when Voyager and I met on the battlefield."

"I guess your own Maojin hunt went well, huh?" Tran asked.

Minh nodded, "Yeah, I got held up at the HCMCPD headquarters, y'know, Lotus Industries stuff. But at least this Maojin didn't give any meaningful resistance when I beat him."

As the Acura pulled itself to a stop at a four-way intersection to wait for its traffic light to switch into green, Thao notices Tran's bruises and cuts from her rear-view mirror, "Oh my God! Tran, what happened?"

Minh glanced a bit at Tran, her left eye winking at her. Knowing what that meant, Tran immediately answered, "Ah, these? I tripped over some roots when I was spying Voyager."

As Thao resumed her driving, both Minh and Tran let out inaudible sighs. So far the only person who knew about Tran's alter ego as Star was Minh, and she doesn't know that much about it. As far as Minh knew, Star had taken over Tran's body to save her from the attack that killed Minh's father two years ago, and the Maojin vanguard had promised Minh to help her in her quest of vengeance, along with helping Tran in coping with her cancer.

With Tran now busy in her own world and Thao still concentrating in her driving, Minh slowly opened the glove compartment of her Acura.

" _Soon…_ " Minh thought as she saw the item inside the glove compartment, " _Soon I will be able to avenge you, Father!_ "

Inside Minh's glove compartment was a ScanDriver, identical to Krishna's apart from the blue tab instead of red on Krishna's Driver.

A smirk appears on Minh's face as her eyes made contact with the ScanDriver, before the young woman placed the Lightning Firefly card inside the glove compartment and closing it.

 **xxx**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **xxx**

 **Next time on Kamen Rider Voyager, episode 4 – A Hurricane's Rage**

A series of disappearances where people were being pulled underground has attracted the attention of the MCU, prompting Steffi and her friends to go underground into the sewers of Ho Chi Minh City in search of the cryptid called "Mole Man" who they suspect was behind the disappearances. With Krishna and Karin deciding to move into Steffi's apartment, the former must juggle between investigating the disappearances and adjusting himself with the perks of modern life. And with the Mole Maojin proving too quick to catch, another new form will be needed by Voyager to catch the Maojin by its tail. But as the fight rages on, a new Rider enters the fray...

 **xxx**

 **Maojin Card of the Day**

 **Thunder Hopper**

 **Class:** Five of Shields

 **Tribe:** Thunder

 **Properties:** Enables Voyager to perform superhuman jumps in order to evade attacks or perform new ones. With this card equipped, Voyager is able to jump over a three-storey building and if he kicks opponents with this card equipped, Voyager is able to send them flying away.

 **Maojin of the Day**

 **Seahorse Maojin**

 **Class:** Six of Cups

 **Tribe:** Water

 **Motif:** Seahorse

 **Host:** Damian Morgan

 **Abilities:** underwater adaptation, fin-like hands capable of performing devastating slaps, laser beams fired from the nose, pressurized water streams fired from a slit on his abdomen.

 **Destroyed by:** Kamen Rider Voyager Inferno Form's Inferno Machinegun Impact

 **xxx**

 **A/N:** And that's a wrap! It took waaaay longer than I expected, because of college work and stuff, but the third chapter of _Voyager_ is done! I would like to thank God90zilla Studios for using my Seahorse Maojin in their story _Kamen Rider Cryo_ (which takes place in the same universe as _Voyager_ btw). You guys should check that story out, it's awesome! And speaking of which, check out my other story _Kamen Rider Zard_ as well!

As usual leave your reviews, don't leave flames, and don't forget to follow and subscribe to this story!

This is maxpower02, signing out!


	4. A Hurricane's Rage

**A/N: What's up guys! maxpower02 here with the latest chapter of** _ **Kamen Rider Voyager**_ **! However, before we start, I have a bad news and a good news.**

 **Bad news –** _ **Zard**_ **and** _ **Cyber**_ **are being put on hold. Reason? I felt that I had more ideas going on in my head for** _ **Voyager**_ **, with a good total of 11 episodes (including the four that have been published) in mind, before my winter Movie War with** _ **Kamen Rider Ex-Aid**_ **(yup, as I said, my fanfiction Riders universe takes place at the same universe as the Neo-Heisei Riders, so yeah, I can pull that off lol). I'll probably rewrite those two stories when I have the time, but don't worry, they're still part of my universe…it's the matter of placing it in a new timeline that suits them better. Before** _ **Voyager**_ **or after** _ **Voyager**_ **? Up to me lol**

 **Good news – yeah I kinda leaked it in the bad news part. I already had** _ **Voyager**_ **all planned out to the point of the debut of the series' tertiary Rider and the debut of the primary and secondary Riders' Super Forms, or mid-season upgrade if you can say. Speaking of secondary, this chapter will debut the series' secondary Rider, as well as Voyager's other alternate form! So yeah, sit back, relax, and enjoy the story~~**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, TOEI does.**

 **xxx**

 **Previously, on Kamen Rider Voyager**

 _In the light of the consecutive attacks on Ho Chi Minh City by the Eagle and Komodo Maojins, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department (HCMCPD) decided to act fast by forming a special taskforce that specializes in taking on these dangerous kaijns, the Maojin Counter Unit (MCU). Led by the newly promoted Leo, this taskforce will support Kamen Rider Voyager in his battles against the Maojin forces._

 _The taskforce was quick to be called into action, as the Water Tribe made their move by sending out the Seahorse Maojin to attack the city's fishing boats. Thankfully Voyager was there on the scene to take on the Seahorse Maojin, however Star, the Maojins' vanguard, interrupted the battle between Voyager and the Seahorse Maojin, saving the latter while reigniting his rivalry with the former. The timely arrival of the MCU forced Star into retreat and allowed Voyager to resume his fight with the Seahorse Maojin. The Maojin put up a tough fight, but thanks to Voyager's Inferno Form, granted by the newly acquired Ace of Swords Maojin Card, the Seahorse Maojin's threat was ended once and for all._

 _However, the battle between humanity and the Maojins has just begun…_

 **xxx**

"Where's Krishna?"

Entering the small kitchen of Steffi's apartment with that question, Vy immediately blinked in confusion as she saw both Steffi and Kim, who were busy cooking spicy fish soup for today's dinner, immediately dropped whatever they're doing right now after hearing that.

"I mean," Vy spoke again, "You told me that he'll be joining us for dinner, but where is he? Is he coming late? Or is he cancelling his dinner plan with us altogether?"

"Oh, right," Steffi chuckled, "I forgot that you weren't there when we met him today. Krishna told us that he's going somewhere first before coming over to our place. Leo's with him right now, as he's going to take Krishna here."

"I see," Vy nodded.

"Why don't you help us with our spicy fish soup while we wait?" Kim said, putting aside her freshly chopped chili and placing scallions on the chopping board, "I'm going to boil water for the soup, so please chop the scallions for me."

"Sure thing," Vy said, taking the knife from Kim before she proceeds to chop the scallions in front of her.

 **xxx**

 _ **45 minutes later**_

The SIG members' spicy fish soup was simmering on the stove as the sound of a car and a motorcycle pulling up to the apartment's parking lot was heard from outside. Steffi peeked out of her kitchen window, before a smile appeared on her face seconds afterwards.

"They're here!" Steffi chirped excitedly, "C'mon girls, let's set up the table for our guests!"

As Steffi and the others were arranging the tablecloth on the apartment's dining table, a clearly tired Leo opened the door, a weak smile on his face.

"I'm back," Leo said, wiping away the sweat from his forehead before taking off his shoes as he entered the apartment, with Steffi immediately directing her clearly tired brother to his seat on the dining table, "Hey sis, that guest room of yours...no one's using it, right?"

"Why do you ask?" Steffi asked back, preparing a glass of water for Leo, "I mean of course it's always available, the only time that it was used is whenever you're too tired to return to your own home and decided to hit the hay here!"

"I think Krishna should stay with you girls," Leo said, gulping down his glass of water before continuing, "The guy lived in a fucking tent!"

"What?!" Steffi, Kim, and Vy gawked at the same time.

 **xxx**

 _ **30/4 Park, District 1**_

 _ **One hour earlier**_

" _Why are you taking me here again, Krishna?" Leo asked as he and Krishna parked their respective vehicles near the iconic 30-4 Park, located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City._

 _30/4 Park was a small yet shady park that connected two of Ho Chi Minh City's iconic landmarks, the Reunification Palace and the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was named after the Vietnamese Reunification Day, April 30_ _th_ _, otherwise known as the Fall of Saigon, which marks the end of the Vietnam War and the reunification between North and South Vietnam._

" _I need to pick up some stuff from here and I want you to help me," Krishna replied, taking off his helmet, "And by some stuff, I mean that."_

 _Krishna pointed towards a medium-sized green tent standing proudly in the middle of the park, a lit bonfire present in front of it while a small clothesline that has Krishna and Karin's laundry on it was present on the left hand side of the tent. Leo's jaw immediately dropped as he saw what Krishna had showed him._

" _If it weren't for the fact that you're this city's only hope against the Unrecorded Lifeforms, I would have fucking arrested you right here right now," an annoyed Leo said, "Do you know that it's illegal to set up camp in any of the city's green spaces?"_

" _Kinda," Krishna shrugged sheepishly, "But give me some slack, will ya? I'm Voyager, Vo-ya-ger! I travel from places to places. In other words, I don't have a permanent home. In fact, I only lived here for two days! I got kicked out from my last place of residence, you know?"_

" _Which is?"_

 _Krishna lets out an even more sheepish look on his face, "23/9 Park in District 1."_

 _Leo face-palmed upon hearing that, "Let me guess, the police kicked you out?"_

 _Krishna nodded sheepishly._

" _That's it. You're getting a permanent place to stay whether you like it or not!"_

 **xxx**

"And that's why I want him to stay with you girls," Leo finished his story.

"And why should Krishna stay with us?" Steffi asked back.

"Duh, you're the first person that literally stood for him when I arrested him when we first met him," Leo replied, sipping his drink once again, "Besides, having him and Karin in my house would add more to my already increasing headaches. And the fact that your apartment's bigger than mine."

"True," Steffi nodded.

"But are you really sure about this?" Kim asked, "I mean, Vy and I have already been living here ever since Steffi set up the SIG."

"A fourth person would add more to this apartment's burdens…" Vy added, recalling the moments where she, Kim, and Steffi often argue on how the apartment's expenses should be divided.

"Look at the bright side," Steffi said, trying to reassure her friends, "A fourth person means that the bills would be cheaper on our part. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?"

"Hey guys!" Krishna's voice suddenly boomed out from the door as the man made his way in, "Leo said that I could stay here for a while. Do you mind if I bring Karin with me?"

Behind Krishna stood Karin, grinning from ear to ear as she lets out a friendly wave at the four people inside the apartment.

"Don't worry, she'll be in her card form if she bothers you girls too much," Krishna added.

Steffi sighed, "Hoo boy, this is going to be a fun ride…"

 **xxx**

 _ **KAMEN RIDER VOYAGER**_

 **Episode 4: A Hurricane's Rage**

 **OP: Eiyuu no Uta – THE ALFEE**

 **xxx**

Steffi, Vy, Kim, Leo, Krishna, and Karin were now sitting around the dining table, bowls of spicy fish soup that Steffi and her friends had made earlier in front of them. Vy and Kim were busy enjoying their soup, the latter telling the former enthusiastically about Voyager's battle against the Seahorse Maojin earlier that day, to which Vy groaned in dismay about why didn't anyone told her about it. Steffi and Leo were discussing Maojin-related issues, mainly regarding the other Maojin-related cases that the MCU hasn't investigated yet. Karin was definitely enjoying her spicy fish soup, delightfully powering through bowl after bowl, however her partner Krishna remained silent throughout dinner time, occasionally taking a few spoons of his meal.

Noticing that Krishna was unlike his usual self, Steffi gently nudged Krishna by the shoulder, "What's wrong? Is the soup too spicy for you?"

Krishna shook his head, "No, it's not that. The soup's good. It's just…"

As Krishna glanced at Steffi, he was shocked to see that instead of the young woman, sitting beside him was a young Thai girl, dressed in a traditional-styled attire usually worn by villagers in Thailand in the early 20th century.

"Sobee…" Krishna whispered, his thoughts drifting away to what had happened 108 years ago…

"Krishna?" Steffi called out, realizing that Krishna had spaced out in front of her, "Krishna? You okay there dude?"

Immediately Krishna shook his head several times and blinked his eyes repeatedly, forcing himself to his senses as the Thai girl in his vision reverted back into Steffi, "Yeah, I'm good. It's just…"

Karin, knowing what's happening with Krishna all too well, decided to step in, "…Krishna hasn't been to someone's house in quite a while, so he's awestruck at how well organized your place is."

"That's right!" Krishna exclaimed all of a sudden, letting out a slightly relieved and thankful smile at Karin, "What she said."

Steffi blinked, "You haven't been to someone's house before? And how's my apartment well organized? It's a shipwreck, I tell ya."

"That's true," Krishna nodded, "And no, your house is quite clean compared to the ones that I saw throughout my journeys."

"So where did you usually go to sleep in your journeys?" a curious Kim asked, an equally curious Vy listening keenly besides her.

"We camped," Krishna replied simply, "Usually we set up camp at parks, in front of stores, or at some random place that we think it's comfortable."

"We did sleep in hotels sometimes, however," Karin added, "But only if we had enough money to afford a room for the night…and the fanciest hotels that we could afford are usually those budget, one-star hotels…"

"Interesting," Leo nodded, "Anyway, how long have you been doing this? You never actually told me that during our interrogation a few days ago."

Krishna cleared his throat, "You won't believe me if I tell you guys."

"We're ready for anything," Steffi said.

"I believe I already told Leo about this," Krishna said to which Leo nodded in agreement, "I may look 20…but I'm actually 677 years old."

Immediately after hearing that Steffi, Vy, and Kim performed spit-takes at the same time, which unfortunately sprayed Leo with soup straight in his face.

"Goddamnit," Leo muttered, taking out several sheets of tissue which he used to clean up his face.

"You're kidding me," Steffi said in disbelief, cleaning her mouth with a sheet of tissue as well.

"I kid you not," Krishna said, "When I first received my Voyager powers, I was 20 years old. It was 1366 if I'm not mistaken, and that was the year when the Maojins first surfaced."

"That means you've been doing your job for the past 657 years…" Steffi deduced, "Incredible…"

"So when these…is it cryptids or Maojins?" Kim scratched her head.

"You're free to call them cryptids if you want to," Krishna told Kim, "I mean, I told Leo that the police force are free to refer the Maojins as the Unrecorded Lifeforms. If you girls refer to Maojins as cryptids, you're free to do so."

"Right," Kim nodded, "So when these cryptids first showed up, it was during…gosh, I wish I never slept on History classes back in school!"

"I came from the eastern part of the island of Java in Indonesia, so at that time it was during the golden age of the Majapahit Empire, when King Hayam Wuruk and his trusted Prime Minister Gajah Mada performed their famous expansion of the Majapahit. I guess in Vietnam it was during the first period of the Dai Viet era, no?"

"Guess so," Kim said, "So again, when these cryptids first appear…why did they appear in the first place?"

"To be honest I have no idea," Krishna replied, "I've already told Leo that by the way. From what I've known, these creatures came from our planet itself, apparently coexisting with us without us knowing, and are allegedly as old as the planet itself. I've also told Leo that the Maojins were destructive creatures who seek to revive an important figure in their hierarchy…the one they call, The World."

"The World?" Steffi blinked.

"As in the tarot card?" Vy added.

"That's true. From what I've known from my encounters with the Maojins, they have their own unique hierarchy," Krishna continued, "Remember when I refer to the Eagle Maojin as the Ace of Wands?"

Steffi, Kim, and Vy nodded in unison, remembering the time they first met Krishna, while Leo listened on keenly.

"There are seven natural elements in this world, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Darkness, and Light," Krishna began his explanation, "Tarot cards are divided into two suits, the Minor Arcana and the Major Arcana, the former divided into 4 suits. The same goes with the Maojins, only this time they have 7 suits…or Tribes as they would like to call it…instead of 4, with Wands representing the Wind Tribe, Swords representing the Fire Tribe, Shields representing the Thunder Tribe, Cups representing the Water Tribe, and Coins representing the Earth Tribe. The Light and Darkness Tribes are not represented by any specific suit at all."

"Carry on," Leo said, quickly taking out his notepad and writing down what Krishna had said, "Even though the information might be minimal, every word that you say is important for the MCU, since you can shed some light to what we're facing here."

"Sure thing," Krishna nodded, "Continuing, the Minor Arcana of the Maojins are mere soldiers, the ones who carry orders. They were ranked from numbers 2 until 10, with the Aces, Jacks, Queens, and Kings serve as the executives of the Minor Arcana Maojins. Their destructive capabilities also vary depending on their rank, with the 2s the weakest and the Aces the strongest among the Minor Arcanas."

" _That explained the huge scale of destruction during the Eagle and Komodo Unrecorded Lifeform attacks, as well as the more localized destruction that the Seahorse Unrecorded Lifeform had inflicted..._ " Leo thought as he took notes.

"But the Aces have nothing on the Major Arcanas," Krishna continued, "These are the 22 strongest Maojins, with The World being the most powerful of them all, so powerful, it doesn't need any Tribe at all. The remaining 21 are divided into groups of three that oversee each of the 5 Tribes, with the exception of the Light and Darkness Tribes since those Tribes only have their respective Major Arcana Maojins as members. To make this simple, let's refer to the Minor Arcana Maojins as just Maojins and the Major Arcana Maojins as the Arcana Maojins, shall we?"

Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Leo nodded in unison.

"Still listening? Good. Now, I need to tell you guys something," Krishna said, nudging Karin gently on her elbow, "Karin here…she's an Arcana Maojin."

Immediately Steffi, Kim, and Vy grabbed glasses of water from the dining table, drank them as much as they could, before taking a simultaneous spit-take with Leo being the unfortunate target once again.

"Goddamnit!" Leo cursed, quickly pocketing his soaking notepad, "Not again!"

"A what?!" Kim gawked.

"Arcana Maojin," Karin said, confirming what Krishna had told the group, "But don't worry. We Light Tribe Maojins are disgusted by the actions of our kind…we felt that we Maojins could live together with humans in peace. That's why we've decided to help the humans in defending themselves against our own kind."

"Karin's real name is the High Priestess," Krishna added, "One of the most powerful Maojins out there…good thing that she's in the side of good and not evil. Now back to our discussion regarding the Maojins, each Maojin Tribe member was based on a specific living creature, whether it's a normal Maojin or an Arcana one, their physical appearance is always based on a specific creature that corresponds to his or her Tribe. The Thunder Tribe are all insects and arachnids, the Water Tribe are all water-based animals, the Wind Tribe are flying, non-insect animals, the Fire Tribe are reptiles and amphibians, the Earth Tribe are land mammals and plants, the Light Tribe are mythical creatures, while the Darkness Tribe are extinct animals."

"So the Eagle Unrecorded Lifeform from the other day was from the Wind Tribe, the Komodo one was from the Fire Tribe, while the Seahorse one was from the Water Tribe…" Leo nodded in understanding, before something struck his mind, "What about the black Unrecorded Lifeform that you fought today?"

"You mean Star?" Krishna inquired, to which Leo replied with a nod, "Star's an Arcana Maojin from the Darkness Tribe…he's based on a _Tyrannosaurus_ if I can recall."

"And how about Karin?" Steffi asked.

"Glad that you asked," Krishna smiled, before gesturing at his partner, "Karin, if you may?"

Knowing what Krishna meant, Karin nodded, her body slowly glowing white. Seconds afterwards Karin's entire body disintegrated into white particles, which reformed themselves into Karin's original card form that landed slowly on the table. Steffi picked up the card and examined it carefully, before letting out a slightly sarcastic chuckle.

"A unicorn. I should've known," Steffi said, handing Karin back to Krishna once again.

"What do you expect? A dragon?" Krishna smiled, "A being as angelic as Karin deserves to have a unicorn as her true form."

" _ **Ah, shut up will ya?**_ " Karin scoffed as Krishna pocketed her into his trousers.

"Gee, would you look at the time," Krishna said, pointing at the nearby wall clock before letting out a slight yawn, "I would like to tell you more about myself and the Maojins, but it's getting late. I need to patrol the city again early in the morning. Mind if you show me my new room, Steffi?"

"Sure thing," Steffi nodded as she stood up from her seat, "Leo, you should go back home. You need to be at the station early in the morning, right?"

"Right," Leo said as he stood up, "I'll see everyone soon, okay?"

"See you," both Kim and Vy waved at Leo in unison as he went for the apartment's door, with Krishna and Steffi doing the same as well. Leo replied by saluting the group, before making his way out of Steffi's apartment.

 **xxx**

"Here we are."

Steffi had taken Krishna to a small bedroom located at the back of the apartment. It was quite neat and tidy for a room that hasn't been used in quite a while, despite the fact that the small wooden closet present in the room was covered with a thin layer of dust. A single bed was present on the room as well, the bed itself able to fit an adult-sized human male, while a small desk was present next to the closet, complete with a small plastic chair.

"Is this my new room?" Krishna asked, a satisfied smile appearing on his face, "Looks neat."

"To be honest I haven't used this room in like three months," Steffi sighed as she wiped away the layer of dust from the closet, "Usually if Leo comes over here he'll sleep here."

"Three months?" Krishna blinked.

"That's the last time Leo stayed over here," Steffi replied, focusing her attention on tidying up the bed for Krishna's use, "He's a busy man…his work at the police force usually requires him to either bring his work home or for him to stay over at the station."

"Don't you wish him to come over your place your often?" Krishna asked, "I mean, he's your big brother and all…"

"I know," Steffi sighed, "But then again, like I said, Leo's a busy man. I sure do wish that he has time to spend with his sister and her friends, but for now, I just need to accept the fact that Leo's job is much more important than me. The entire city count on him and the rest of the HCMCPD you know."

Krishna nodded in understanding.

"There you go," Steffi said after she had fluffed out the bed's pillow, "Make yourself feel at home."

"Thanks!" Krishna smiled, before he immediately jumped onto the bed, "Ah yes, I haven't felt this comfortable in a while!"

"That's not exactly the most comfortable bed in the world you know," Steffi chuckled slightly, remembering the time where she got that bed from a second-hand shop for a very cheap price.

"Hey, bear with me, I rarely slept in such comfortable places during my travels."

"Whatever you say," Steffi smiled, "Anyway, before I leave you to sleep, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"What do you think about Ho Chi Minh City? Do you like it?"

Krishna went silent all of a sudden. Truth to be told, the young man enjoyed the city and its sights, but his duty as Kamen Rider Voyager means that he need to patrol the city in a regular basis for any Maojin sightings, leaving him almost little to no time to enjoy himself in Vietnam's largest city.

And apparently, Steffi had caught on with that, "You've been here for a few days, dude. What do you think about our city?"

"Well…" Krishna stammered, trying to come up with the best answer, "I actually enjoyed it…but…"

Steffi chuckled, "You can't call yourself as a true traveler if you haven't experienced the city first-hand, right?"

"I know that! But what would happen if…"

"Leo and the MCU will take care of that," Steffi smiled, "I mean, the whole point of the HCMCPD forming that taskforce is to assist you in your battles! Just unwind yourself, Krishna, relax. Don't take everything too seriously. Tomorrow I'll leave the patrolling to Leo and the guys at the MCU. Because first thing in the morning, we're gonna show you how we Saigonese people enjoy yourselves here. Trust me, you'll like it! You'll be surprised even."

"Really?" Krishna asked.

"Really," Steffi nodded, "Now good night! Don't worry about your stuff, I'll put them in your room later. Sleep tight will ya?"

Steffi turned off the room's lights and closed the door, leaving Krishna to himself on his bed. The young man slowly closes his eyes, thinking about what Steffi had just told him as he drifts off to sleep…

 **xxx**

 _ **Phu My Hung Urban Area, District 7**_

The mysterious Caucasian man that had spied on Pi and Bayu at Saigon Port earlier that day was seen driving his yellow Volkswagen Beetle through District 7's Phu My Hung Urban Area, an upscale neighborhood located in the south of Ho Chi Minh City. The man drove his car towards an imposing-looking skyscraper erected amongst the multitude of apartment complexes in the area, the skyscraper's distinct Victorian look made it stood out amongst the other high-rise buildings in the Phu My Hung Urban Area.

Parking his Beetle in the skyscraper's underground parking space, the man made his way towards the parking space's elevator, pressing the button that would take him to the 30th floor of the skyscraper, the very summit of the building. As the elevator slowly whirled into life, the man hummed to himself to pass the time. Minutes later a ding was heard and the elevator doors opened, allowing the man to step out into his destination. Still continuing his humming from before, the man took out a small piece of paper from his pants pocket, which displayed a roughly drawn floor plan of the skyscraper's 25th floor that showed the directions to a conference room located there. Letting out a brief smile, the man followed the map's instructions, and before he knew it, he's now standing in front of the conference room's imposing-looking doors, which, like everything else in the skyscraper, was Victorian in design.

Opening the conference room's door, immediately the man was greeted by an assortment of characters, all of them garbed in colorful clothing. The familiar figures of Hanged Man, Temperance, Hermit, and Devil were seen among them, while Bayu and Pi were seen chatting to one another at a corner of the room. Shooting out an unnoticeable yet suspicious look at the two, the man slowly made his way towards a group of two people who were conversing at a water dispenser, one male and the other one female, both of them like the Caucasian man are in their early twenties.

The male was around 21-years old of a Japanese descent, with pale skin, messy, medium-length black hair with a large fringe over his forehead, and an overall mild-mannered look. The man wore a yellow T-shirt, a light brown scarf, and blue torn-up denim jeans.

The female was around 22-years old of a Vietnamese descent, with lightly tanned skin and shoulder-length black hair that has been styled into a ponytail, complete with a tiger-themed ponytail holder. The woman wore a light brown tank top and black trousers.

"Chariot, Judgement," the man greeted as he joined his peers.

"Took you a while to be here, Strength," Judgement, the Vietnamese woman, lets out a rather displeased sigh at her colleague's tardiness.

"Sorry about that," Strength told her, "I got delayed…I need to ensure that our Maojin's doing his assigned duties. By the way, quite a fancy place that our fellow Arcanas had chosen for our meeting…usually when all the Arcanas meet up it's at some shady bar or some dark alleyway…now we're here in this fancy conference room. Times have changed, huh?"

"It's thanks to our friends the Thunder Tribe Arcanas," Chariot, the Japanese man, said, "They've managed to earn the trust of the human who runs this place."

"Ah yes, if I'm not mistaken, the Thunder Tribe Arcanas are now working together with a certain…what's her name again?"

"Le Do Hieu Lam," Judgement said, "She's the CEO of the Xich Quy Joint Stock Company, who owns this building."

"No wonder," Strength nodded, recalling the moment he saw Xich Quy Company's distinct moth-themed logo at the building's entrance, "This must be the company's headquarters. To think that the Maojins are now working together with one of Vietnam's largest weapons manufacturers…shows how far we've come in infiltrating human society."

"It's all thanks to Tower and Justice," Chariot said, pouring himself a cup of water and drinking it, "They've somehow managed to become Ms. Rin's most trusted servants. Hmph…if that woman knew what's truly going on!"

Strength chuckled upon hearing that, but soon stopped himself after he realized something, "Tower and Justice? What about Death? Isn't she an Arcana with the Thunder Tribe too?"

Judgement scoffed, "Even with the riches that Tower and Justice promised to her, Death still choose to operate independently as a drifter. To be honest I don't know what the heck she is thinking."

"I see," Strength nodded, his eyes glancing at the crowd around his group, before he realized that someone notable is absent from the room, "Anyway…where's Star? Isn't he supposed to come to this meeting as well?"

"Star's still busy with his own plans," Chariot replied, "But he did left us with an important message…"

Chariot then whispered something into Strength's ear, causing the latter's eyes to go wide in surprise.

"He's WHA-" Strength was quickly silenced by Chariot placing his hand on his mouth.

"Be quiet," Chariot told his colleague, "That issue will be addressed in this meeting as well."

'Speaking of which, the meeting's about to start," Judgement reminded her two colleagues as she ushered them to their seats on the conference table.

At the same time, the door flew open to reveal three figures entering the room, two being males flanking a female one in the middle. The male figures were physically imposing in built, fully packed with muscle from head to toe on their 2 meter tall frames. Dressed in a sharp combination of white shirts, purple ties, purple tuxedos, and black leather shoes, the two men were European in appearances, with a pair of black sunglasses over their eyes. The two men looked very alike, with their hairstyles and a small golden symbol on their ties the only items distinguishing them.

The first man was around 21-years old with a face that indicates Romanian descent, with ivory white skin, rugged black hair, a short boxed beard, and a golden stag beetle on his tie. This was the man that the characters in the room refer as Tower, a powerful member of the Maojins' Thunder Tribe.

The second man was around 25-years old with a face that indicates Greek descent, with slightly tanned skin, messy dark brown hair; a small scar located his left eye, and a golden Hercules beetle on his tie. Like Tower, this man was also an Arcana Maojin, referred by his peers as Justice.

The lone female between the two was Vietnamese, aged around 35. She has a medium build with white skin; chin-length straight black hair styled in a slight bob, and a pair of glasses on her face. She wore a black tuxedo over a white T-shirt, a black skirt, and black stilettoes, while a necklace with a silver cross on it was seen on her neck. This is Le Do Hieu Lam, affectionately called Rin by either her employees, her friends, or her Maojin colleagues, the CEO of Xich Quy Joint Stock Company.

"Today's meeting will be starting shortly, please be seated," Justice announced, prompting the remaining people in the room who were still standing to sit on their respective places on the conference table.

After everyone had seated, Rin took her own seat at the head of the table, with Tower and Justice flanking her, acting as her bodyguards of some sorts, adding more to the air of intimidation around her. On the table was a black manila folder, which Rin immediately opened. The contents of today's meeting have been written down carefully by Tower and Justice prior to the meeting, allowing Rin to merely carry out everything that has been written there.

Clearing her throat, Rin immediately wasted no time in starting the meeting, "Right, before we start, I'm going to take attendance of everyone here. I'll call you by your Arcana names, your human identities, and your tribes."

Everyone else nodded in understanding.

Picking up a sheet of paper with a list of names on it, Rin began to read the list out loud, "We start off with the Wind Tribe. Hanged Man, Simon Jacobson, Wind Tribe. Temperance, Dietmar Werner, Wind Tribe. Hermit, Nguyen Ngoc Nhat Thao, Wind Tribe."

The three Wind Tribe members raised their hands in response.

"Good, the Wind Tribe's all here. Up next is the Water Tribe. Emperor, Bayu Pradika, Water Tribe. Empress, Le Vu Quynh Mai, Water Tribe. Hierophant, Ngo The Long, Water Tribe."

"We're here," Bayu raised his right hand, representing his Tribe. Sitting next to him was Pi and a 20-year old Vietnamese man with tanned skin, a rather chubby and bulky build, short and curly black hair, and wearing a light blue Hawaiian shirt and black shorts. While he was known as the Hierophant of the Arcana Maojins, as per the rules within the Water Tribe Arcanas, he is known by his human name, Ngo The Long, affectionately called "Ken" by his fellow Arcanas.

Rin nodded, "Alright, the Water Tribe's all accounted for."

Unknown to the Water Tribe members and everyone else in the room, Strength, Chariot, and Judgement all sneered at the Water Tribe trio silently, with Strength having told his colleagues about the Water Tribe's actions earlier that day.

"Moving on now. Strength, Carlton Richards, Earth Tribe. Judgement, Nguyen Phuong Nhi, Earth Tribe. Chariot, Shouhei Watanabe, Earth Tribe."

"Here," Strength raised his right hand.

"Present," added Judgement.

"We're all here," finished Chariot.

Rin lets out a brief smile, "Good, all Earth Tribe members are here. Now for the Fire Tribe. Devil, Toshiki Akizuki, Fire Tribe. Lovers, Nguyen Minh Hung and Nguyen Nam Bich Phuong, Fire Tribe. Wheel of Fortune, Fernando Vargas, Fire Tribe."

Unlike the other Tribes that has 3 Arcana Maojins, the Fire Tribe has 4 Arcana Maojins, despite still having 3 Arcana names (Devil, Lovers, Wheel of Fortune) assigned to the Arcana Maojins overseeing the Tribe. This is because "Lovers" is actually a pair of Arcana Maojins who shared the same Arcana name, bonded together by their everlasting love for one another, hence the name.

"Present and ready for action," said Devil, still clad in his signature _hakama_ and with that devilish smile of his on his face.

"We're here," added a male voice.

Sitting next to Devil were a young Vietnamese couple, aged around 20. The male, wearing a red T-shirt with yellow accents and a pair of blue jeans, has a rather chubby build, lightly tanned skin, and medium-length hair styled in a slight Mohawk. While his human identity is Nguyen Minh Hung, or "Beto," as he's known, he's actually the male half of the Arcana Maojin team Lovers.

The other half was a young woman sitting next to Beto, wearing a red and yellow sundress and a matching yellow sun hat. The young woman has a rather petite build, with lightly tanned skin, straight, shoulder-length black hair styled into a ponytail, and a pair of glasses on her face. This is the other half of the Lovers team, going with the name Nguyen Nam Bich Phuong has her human identity, or "Kori" as she's known.

Sitting next to Kori was a sharply-dressed 30-year old Spanish man, with slightly tanned skin, a thin moustache, and greasy dark brown hair that has been slicked back. His athletic figure was dressed in a red T-shirt and black trousers, and in the man's right hand was a red rose.

"I'm always here, _senorita_ ," the man, the Arcana Maojin known as Wheel of Fortune, said rather flirtatiously, before blowing a kiss towards Rin.

"Ooookay…" Rin cringed slightly at Wheel of Fortune's actions, before resuming her attendance check, "Right, moving on. Finally, the Thunder Tribe. Tower, Adrian Budescu, Thunder Tribe."

"Here," Tower replied.

"Justice, Angelos Kyriakopoulos, Thunder Tribe."

"Present," Justice gave the reply.

"Death, Trinh Phuong Khanh, Thunder Tribe."

"I'm here."

Sitting on the farthest corner of the table was a young Vietnamese woman, aged around 22. Dressed in a purple T-shirt and light blue denim jeans that has been torn up in several places, the young woman has an athletic build, lightly tanned skin, and shoulder-length dark brown hair with a large bang over her forehead. A pair of black bracelets with metallic spikes on her wrists and a necklace with a silver skull on it adds more to the young woman's rather fearsome appearance. While the human world knows her as Trinh Phuong Khanh, her true identity that of Death, the third and final member of the Thunder Tribe Arcana Maojins.

"Right, all Arcana Maojins have been accounted for," Rin said, giving the list one final check before ticking everyone's attendance there, "Star should be here to represent the Darkness Tribe, but he has other matters to attend to, which is why he couldn't come. However, he did leave us with a message for all of us. I believe the respective Tribes has discovered this by themselves, but I feel it is important that we address this once again. Voyager…he is here, in Ho Chi Minh City."

Immediately the room exploded into collective gasps of worry, disgust, and resentment. While for the humans Voyager was viewed as a hero, for the Maojins and their allies, Voyager was viewed as a monster, a bane towards their survival and existence.

"It's true," Hanged Man added, clearly disgusted at the loss of the Eagle Maojin at Voyager's hands, "He had taken out our Ace with surprising ease…and shortly afterwards, he also took out the Fire Tribe's Ace."

Devil nodded begrudgingly, even though he and the Fire Tribe enjoyed the misery that the Wind Tribe's going through, the loss of the Komodo Maojin had forced him into the same page as his Wind Tribe rivals, "That's right. He also took out our proud Komodo…and he hasn't even showed his full potential like the Eagle did!"

"If we could take positives from this, at least the Eagle had done enough to weaken the seal that imprisoned The World," Temperance said, giving the Fire Tribe a rather mocking look, "Your Komodo barely weakened your Tribe's seal!"

"That's because Voyager defeated him before he could perform a kill count high enough to dissipate the seal!" Devil argued.

"Oh yeah? Face it, your Tribe's weak!" this time it was Hermit who said that, attacking the Fire Tribe with venom in her voice.

"Why you…" Devil growled, jumping out his seat as he tried to tackle the Wind Tribe members only for Beto and Wheel of Fortune to quickly restrain him, "Release me! Let me have my shot at these arrogant bird brains!"

"ENOUGH!" Rin yelled, slamming her hands against the table that silenced everyone, "We're here to discuss about how we could take down Voyager before he could take down more of the Maojins, not to prove which Tribe's more superior than the other!"

Slowly Devil sat back down on his seat, while the Wind Tribe members nodded rather awkwardly.

Seeing the argument between the Fire and Wind Tribe members, Bayu lets out an inaudible sigh, before whispering into Pi's ears, "We better not comment anything…if the Fire Tribe's Ace was unable to weaken their Tribe's seal despite all of that destruction that he had caused, I don't think our Six of Cups would be able to pull off the same feat!"

Pi nodded, before whispering back, "Yeah, but then again the Wind Tribe has been active for quite a while before we came here, hence why their seal is weaker than the others."

"We still have a long way to go," Ken added, making sure that his words are out of the other Tribes' earshot, "The defeat of our Six of Cups…means that we need to up the ante to match the Wind Tribe's progress."

Shaking her head at the Arcana Maojins' antics, Rin lets out a sigh, "Good, the very last thing that we want to have is having my office destroyed by you idiots trying to beat the crap out of each other." Rin then signaled for Justice to fetch her a glass of water, finishing its contents in one go. Once she had calmed herself down, Rin continued, "Unfortunately, we couldn't manipulate the police force against Voyager…as the commissioner of the HCMCPD preferred their weapons for their newly established taskforce to be supplied by my biggest competitor, Lotus Industries. That means we could not use the newly established taskforce to…let's just say eliminate the competition. However, this means that we have another clear target on who should we attack in order to gain complete control of this city and ensure the smooth revival of His Almightiness The World."

Rin then took out a black and white portrait of Minh from the manila folder, a wicked smile appearing on Rin's face as she showed the portrait for all the Arcana Maojins in the room to see.

"This woman here, is the new chairperson of Lotus Industries," Rin said, "For the past few years, my company have been trying to establish a collaboration with her company, with the aim of arming every single citizen of this city for the sake of their protection, thus guaranteeing the security of this city in our hands. But no, both this woman and her predecessor declined my offers! Civilians don't need weapons they said…we should focus our efforts to help local law enforcement they said…the city would do fine without our intervention they said…bullshit, utter bullshit! Le Thao Minh's predecessor had paid the price for his naivety, and it's her turn now to pay for her own decisions! Tower!"

"Yes, Madam?" Tower replied, standing up and bowing respectfully in front of Rin.

"Your Nine of Shields…has he done the scouting mission that you've assigned him?" Rin asked.

"He did," Tower answered, but suddenly a solemn look overtook his face, "But sadly…our Firefly had fallen in battle."

"What?!" Rin gawked in dismay, "Is it Voyager again?!"

Tower shook his head, "No, Madam…it was a different warrior. A black and blue one."

"Black and blue?" Rin raised her eyebrows, apparently intrigued by this piece of information, "Hanged Man, Devil, Emperor, as Arcana Maojins, I suppose you can sense what your Tribe's Maojins are sensing. Could you please tell me what colors that Voyager used during his battles?"

"Black and purple," Hanged Man and Devil said in unison, prompting the two of them to look at each other awkwardly in surprise.

"And he has adopted a new color, black and red," added Bayu, "Voyager used that form when he defeated my Maojin earlier today…he must have used the Fire Tribe's Ace in doing so."

Upon hearing that, Devil slowly grinded his teeth and quietly clenched his fists in anger. His Tribe's prized Ace has been used as Voyager's newest power source, and without no doubt the Wind Tribe's fallen Ace would follow suit.

"Interesting…" Rin nodded, "I'll ask the Thunder Tribe to send another scout to investigate. If my hunch's correct…not only Voyager's here, but _**that**_ warrior's here too."

Immediately the room exploded into gasps of worry once again, prompting Rin to quickly silence the room by slamming her hand onto the table once again.

"Do not worry, I'll ask Star about this…perhaps he knows something that all of us don't," Rin said, before turning her attention towards Tower, "Dispatch another scout immediately."

"Affirmative. I'll dispatch the Swallowtail to investigate this new warrior and the Lotus Industries factories as you've requested," Tower replied.

Rin nodded, "Good. As for the rest of you, continue dispatching more Maojins to weaken The World's seal. Whenever the police or Voyager intervene, attack them without prejudice."

The Arcana Maojins in the room nodded in unison.

"Right, I have a company meeting tomorrow morning, so today's meeting is adjourned," Rin said, standing up as Tower and Justice flanked her once again, "Good night everyone."

As Rin and the two Thunder Tribe Arcanas left the room, Death silently slipped out of the room seconds afterwards, unaware that Strength is watching her in a rather suspicious manner. Strength then gestured to his Earth Tribe Arcanas to gather around him, before the trio discussed something briefly. After Bayu, Pi, and Ken had said their goodbyes with their fellow Arcana Maojins, immediately Strength called for the rest of the Arcana Maojins in the room to gather around.

"What now?" Hanged Man asked, "The meeting's over, there's nothing else to be talked about."

"There is," Strength replied, "I want you guys to keep an eye on the Water Tribe."

"Why's that?" Devil asked.

A smirk appeared on Strength's face, "I think they're trying to betray The World."

"And what makes you think that?" this time it was Kori who asked that question.

"I saw it with my own eyes," Strength replied, "How Emperor and Empress…literally asked their Maojin to protect this planet's aquatic lifeforms."

Immediately the Fire and Wind Tribes Arcanas gasped in unison, as for them, protecting another living being was an act of heresy within a Maojin's code of conduct.

"What the fuck were they thinking?!" Wheel of Fortune said in disgust, his fists clenched, "We Maojins were supposed to be destroyers, not protectors! Are the Water Tribe members trying to turn their backs on our Almighty The World just like those heretic Light Tribe members all those years ago?!"

"Easy there, Wheelie," Strength told Wheel of Fortune, "That's why it is our job to keep an eye on them. We'll keep the Water Tribe in line…but if they start to act up, we'll be there to terminate them."

The other Arcana Maojins nodded in agreement to Strength's words.

"Also, I think we should also keep an eye on Death as well," Strength said.

"Why's that?" Hermit asked, "I mean, it's true that Death's a bit distant from her other Thunder Tribe Arcanas. But to think that she's also going to betray The World…"

"It's still a mere hunch," Strength said, "But just to be sure, we'll keep an eye on both the Water Tribe Arcanas and Death. If any of them crosses the line…"

Strength then performed the classic "slit one's throat" gesture, earning him a

"Gotcha," Hanged Man nodded, "We'll be going then. It's already late, our landlord would be worried sick about us."

"Landlord?" Strength blinked, before he realized something, "Oh yeah, you guys are hiding out at a rented apartment complex in Binh Tan District. I forgot."

"Pleasant guy, our landlord," Temperance said, "He's just like an uncle that we never have. He's even willing to give us a place to stay for free! In return for us to cover up his crimes, that is…"

"Ah I see," Strength nodded, "That shady kind of guy, right? Kinda reminds me of Ms. Rin to be honest. Tell him that me and my Earth Tribe guys said hi, okay?"

"Sure thing," Hanged Man waved goodbye at the other Arcana Maojins, before the entire Wind Tribe Arcana exited the conference room.

"We should go too," Devil said, "We'll catch you around on our next meeting."

After the Fire Tribe Arcanas had left the room, Judgement asked Strength as the Earth Tribe Arcanas prepared to take their leave, "Hey, do you think our Maojin would be enough to weaken our Tribe's seal?"

Strength lets out a confident smile, "I have confidence on our Mole. He might be a low-ranked Maojin, but his determination is second to none. He's been doing his assignment for quite a while, you know."

 **xxx**

 _ **Somewhere underneath Ho Chi Minh City**_

Meanwhile, underneath Ho Chi Minh City, two servicemen were inspecting the city's underground sewage system. The two wore bright orange vests over their shirts, with white gloves covering their hands, black waterproof boots protecting their feet, and a pair of yellow hard hats with flashlights strapped onto them on their heads.

"Seen anything out of the ordinary, Jared?" the first serviceman asked.

"Not at all, Clive," replied Jared, the second serviceman, as he shone his flashlight towards a nearby sewage tunnel, "Everything's clear and not clogged up."

"Nice," Clive patted Jared on the shoulder, "Looks like the sewers' all good for the night."

Suddenly a brief rustle was heard, startling the two servicemen.

"Did you hear that?" Clive asked.

Jared nodded, "Yeah, I think I did. What was that?"

"Probably a rat," Clive replied nonchalantly as he picked up his toolbox, "Come on, we need to get back to the surface."

Both Clive and Jared navigated their way through Ho Chi Minh City's complicated underground sewage system, seeking out the same manhole entrance that they had used to gain access into the complex. Clive had asked a co-worker of theirs to prepare their truck at the manhole entrance, so that once he and Jared had gone to the surface, the crew would head straight back home.

"Hey, Clive," Jared broke the silence, "Have you ever heard…about the Mole Man?"

Clive shook his head, "Not exactly…why do you ask?"

"It has been the talk of the town for the past two weeks," Jared replied, "It all started when this college girl went to the sewers by herself…it was said that she came here to take some pictures for her photography class, but she never came out from it. After her disappearance, several more mysterious disappearances began to happen. People were dragged unexpectedly underground, sewer workers were snatched, and people who foolishly went to the sewers themselves, they were never heard of ever since. Those who managed to escape all gave the authorities the same testimony…they saw the culprit behind these disappearance…a giant creature, part man, part mole. No one has ever heard from the disappeared people ever since…"

"Have you been visiting that SIG website again, Jared?" Clive asked.

"Probably."

Clive sighed, "God damn it. That's site's nothing but bull, do not fall for anything the website has written. There is no such thing as a Mole Man, believe me."

"But the missing people thing…it's real!"

"I know, I saw that on the news as well. Let the police handle those, they probably got lost here or something. They'll find those people soon enough."

Suddenly another rustle, this time louder than before, was heard, prompting Jared to jump up in surprise much to Clive's dismay.

"Dude, get over it. I've already told you, it's just a rat!" Clive smacked the frightened Jared on his head, sending the latter back to his senses, "Now let's go! Our truck's waiting for us."

But just as Clive and Jared walked a couple of steps, the rustling was heard again, this time even louder than the previous two. A faint drilling noise was also heard, becoming louder by each passing second.

"Can a rat make such a noise?" Jared asked as the drilling noise became more and more apparent.

Before Clive could say anything, the wall next to them suddenly burst open, a metallic drill had broken through it. Both Clive and Jared screamed in terror as a pair of turquoise blue eyes descended upon them…

It was the last thing that the two saw.

 **xxx**

" _Krishna!"_

 _Sitting on the veranda of his host family's house in rural Thailand, Krishna turned around to see a young girl running towards him, a wide grin on her face. The girl, aged around 15, has a slim figure, lightly tanned skin, shoulder-length chocolate brown hair tied into a ponytail, and was dressed neatly from head to toe in an emerald green Thai traditional clothing, with a pair of golden bracelets on her wrists adding more to her graceful looks._

" _Hey there Sobee," Krishna greeted, giving Sobee, the girl, a big hug, "How's school?"_

" _It went well!" Sobee replied happily, "We learned sooo many new things!"_

" _Oh really?" Krishna smiled, "Glad to know that."_

" _How's your day, Krish?" Sobee asked._

" _Quite average to be honest," Krishna answered, "But I really enjoyed helping your father out in the fields!"_

" _My dad's also happy to have you around to help out," Sobee said, "Now let's get inside! Mom has cooked us lunch."_

 _Nodding at Sobee's invitation, Krishna took no time in following the young girl into her house._

 _Fast forward a few weeks later, and all that happiness was wiped away. Sobee's house has been reduced into a pile of rubble, with Sobee trapped underneath it. Her parents had perished the moment the wooden structure went down on them, while Sobee was left badly injured. The poor girl's village had been reduced into a sea of inferno, having being transformed into a battlefield of life and death between Krishna's glowing white Voyager form and the Ace of Shields itself, the Kabuto Maojin. The Kabuto Maojin fired off its electric bolts, which stunned Voyager for a while, only for the glowing white warrior to stagger through it and deflect the bolts away from him with a swipe of his hand, prompting a series of explosions that startled Sobee._

 _And before Sobee could blink once again, Voyager had landed the coup de grace on the Kabuto Maojin, a powerful uppercut to the fiend's left chest. The Kabuto Maojin's body exploded spectacularly, sending a wave of energy that vaporized everything in sight. Houses, trees, animals, and even Sobee herself, all of them were wiped out by the Kabuto Maojin's destruction._

 _Several minutes later, after Krishna had picked up the Thunder Kabuto Maojin Card, the young man looked around, at first confused at all the destruction all around him._

 _But then, the truth dawned upon him._

 _Krishna, as Voyager, had inadvertently destroyed Sobee's village, killing off the only family that he had considered the closest as his own._

 _Crawling towards the wreckage of Sobee's home, Krishna dug through the debris, before recovering a pair of golden bracelets from the pile of burnt wood and bones. It was Sobee's favorite bracelets, the one that she usually wore every day._

 _Clutching the bracelets close to his chest, Krishna slowly closes his eyes, tears running down his cheeks. Mustering all the anguish and sorrow within him, Krishna yelled out to the heavens in grief, lightning flashing in the skies above him as rain poured down on the doomed village, as if the skies had responded to Krishna's feelings._

" _SOBEEEEEE!"_

 **xxx**

"Krishna, wake up!"

"Sobee…Sobee…"

"Krishna, wake up!"

"Sobee…"

"KRISHNA!"

Immediately Steffi slapped the murmuring Krishna on his cheek with all her might, the impact from the slap was more than enough to snap Krishna out of his trance. Slowly regaining his composure, Krishna sat up on his bed, rubbing his right cheek in slight pain.

"Steffi…" Krishna muttered upon seeing Steffi in front of him, before he immediately winced in pain, "My cheek! Steffi, did you do this to me?!"

"I had to," Steffi told Krishna, "You were screaming a lot in your sleep, yelling 'Sobee, Sobee' all the time like some kind of broken hysterical record."

Krishna's eyes went wide in awkwardness as the realization dawned upon him, "Did I really do that?"

Steffi nodded, "You did. You even scared both Kim and Vy."

Standing in front of Krishna's room were Kim and Vy, the two of them giving Krishna weird looks.

"For a guy who fights cryptids, you sure scream like a girl," Kim teased.

"I should record your screaming," Vy added, "That would make the perfect ringtone for my homemade alarm clock!"

"And give us all ear-rape? No thank you," Kim scoffed, to which Vy responded with a slight giggle.

"You okay bro?" Steffi asked.

Wiping away the sweat drenching his forehead, Krishna lets out a nod, "Yeah, I'm good. Just a nightmare, that's all."

Slowly Krishna stood up from his bed, taking off his black T-shirt in the process.

"Yo, do you have towels with you?" Krishna asked as he folded up his black T-shirt, placing it on the desk, "I'm gonna take a shower before we go."

"Just grab the white one on the bathroom," Steffi replied, "Remember, the blue one's mine, the red one's Kim's, and the brown one's Vy's."

"Sure thing," Krishna nodded, taking his leave from the room.

"Hey Krishna," Steffi called, pausing Krishna in his tracks.

"Yeah?"

"Who's Sobee?"

Krishna sighed, shaking his head briefly, "That's none of your business."

And before Steffi could ask anything else, Krishna had gone off to the bathroom, humming a tune to himself.

"What's up with him?" Steffi wondered aloud.

" _ **Don't mind him**_ ," came the reply from Karin, whose card form was lying on the desk, " _ **There are some things that we couldn't tell you for now…just don't mention anything about Sobee in front of him or me**_."

Steffi nodded slowly, knowing that she must respect Krishna and Karin's wishes. However, her curiosity regarding this Sobee person was growing more and more in her mind by each passing second, and Krishna and Karin's refusal to tell her had helped to fuel her curiosity even more…

 **xxx**

Now wearing a blue T-shirt underneath his jacket, Krishna sets off with Steffi and her gang on an impromptu tour around Ho Chi Minh City. Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Karin were riding Kim's car, with Krishna following them on his motorcycle.

Their first stop for the day was the famous Cho Lon quarter in the west bank of the Saigon River, known as the world's largest Chinatown by area. Steffi told Krishna that the centerpiece of Cho Lon, the renowned Binh Tay Market, was the best place to get some _mi goi xao bo_ , or stir-fried curly noodles with beef, for breakfast. Being the adventurous man that he was, Krishna jumped onto the offer immediately, and soon the four found themselves eating generous helpings of _mi goi xao bo_ at the market's food court.

"Holy shit," Krishna gasped in awe after he had eaten his breakfast, "That was some good noodles! What is it made of?"

"Stir-fried instant curly noodles with stir-fried beef sautéed in oil and soy sauce, onions, peppers, bean sprouts, and a dash of black pepper and cilantro," Steffi explained with a grin, "Killer combo, huh?"

"I never knew humans would pull off such amazing creations with instant noodles," Karin commented, licking her lips in satisfaction, "The creativity of humans indeed knows no bounds."

"I think we've found the perfect spot to have our breakfast, Karin!" Krishna exclaimed in delight, before he proceeded to give everyone there, the _mi goi xao bo_ seller included, thumbs up of appreciation.

"Now that our stomachs are full, let's say we get you some new clothes?" Steffi said as she stood up from her seat, "Can't have you stuck in that look all the time, right? Follow me, I know a good place to get some cheap clothes with great quality."

And with that, Steffi and the gang took Krishna and Karin to a neat-looking distro clothing store located at nearby District 5, where Kim, being the more "street-smart" of the trio, decided to choose what kind of clothing that suit Krishna and Karin, with the two trying them out much to the girls' amusement. Eventually, the group bought two bags full of clothing articles, and much to Krishna's amazement, Kim paid for all of those with a single card.

"Oh my God!" Krishna lets out an amazed gasp as he saw Kim using her card to pay for everything with one swipe and a few button presses, "What is that?"

"My credit card," Kim replied simply as she returned her card into her wallet, "With this, you can buy almost anything that you want with only one swipe."

"Back in my day we don't have those…" Krishna commented in amazement, "Whenever we buy something, we pay for them with cash!"

"Welcome to 2023, my friend," Kim winked, "Times has changed and things have become easier. Want me to make one for you?"

Krishna nodded in eagerness, only for Steffi to quickly place her index finger in front of Krishna's face much to his dismay.

"No, you will not have a credit card. It's a lot of responsibility you know…and considering you only saw a credit card today, I doubt that you had such responsibility to own one," Steffi said sternly, "Isn't that right, Kim?"

Kim smiled sheepishly, "Oh yeah, I forgot. You can't use a credit card as much as you want, because in the end of the day, you still gotta pay the bills and if you used your card a lot, trust me, it'll be astronomical!"

"She's been there, done that," Steffi added, with Kim laughing uneasily upon hearing that.

"Yeah…sure…" Kim said sheepishly, recalling the time where she had to work a variety of part-time job to cover for her massive credit card bill after she had overused it in her first month after receiving that card.

"Right, after this we're going to get you guys new shoes," Steffi said, "Follow me guys, I think there's a Bata store near here that's having a fire sale!"

As the group moved to their next destination, Krishna looked at the clear blue skies above him. It was a lovely morning in Ho Chi Minh City, but in such sunny conditions, the afternoon would be a sweltering one. Gazing at the clouds above him, a thought hit Krishna's mind.

" _I wonder how's Leo doing right now…_ "

 **xxx**

 _ **Ho Chi Minh City Police Department Headquarters, District 1**_

"Good morning everyone!"

Leo cheerfully stepped into the MCU's temporary office, an old meeting room that has been converted into an impromptu war room of some sorts. Numerous files were strewn across the room's table, with several police officers studying through them thoroughly. Others were typing on the computers and responding to phone calls, while a couple of them are seen browsing the SIG website for any new info on Maojin sightings.

These were just temporary, however, with the HCMCPD constructing a new, more permanent base located at the HQ building's sixth floor. Equipped with the latest technology, it will surely help the MCU in supporting Voyager in his fight against the Maojins, but for now, the temporary office is all that the newly established taskforce has for now.

Scanning around the room for anyone familiar, Leo immediately saw Khanh Linh studying a file seriously on the table. Curious on what she's reading, Leo approached the stern-looking policewoman.

"Morning Lieutenant," Leo greeted as he sat next to Khanh Linh, "Lovely day, isn't it?"

"No day is a lovely day, Lieutenant, if those scums of creatures are still running around the city," Khanh Linh replied in her usual stern manner, her eyes still focused on the file in front of her.

"Wonder where's Lieutenant Thy?" Leo asked, his eyes searching around the room for his colleague, "I haven't seen her all morning."

"Lieutenant Thy's off patrolling," Khanh Linh replied, still focusing on her file, "And your partner Lieutenant Hako's still recovering in the hospital. But I suppose she will be discharged at any time soon."

"I texted her yesterday night and she said if things go well, she'll be discharged later this afternoon," Leo said, before he noticed the file in Khanh Linh's possession, "Hey, what's that?"

"The disappearance of Le Quynh Huong," Khanh Linh answered, showing the file to Leo. The file had a black and white portrait of a young woman, aged around 19. She has an average build, white skin, and chin-length wavy black hair styled into a bob, with a bang over her forehead. The portrait depicted the young woman wearing a black and white hooped sleeveless shirt, with a Canon EOS-M10 camera hanging on her neck.

"Le Quynh Huong?" Leo blinked, before he realized it, "Isn't that the case of a 19-year old photography student of Ton Duc Thang University that went missing for two weeks?"

"That's right," Khanh Linh nodded, "At first I thought that this was a normal missing person case. But then I've noticed that there was a spike of people being reported missing from the area where Huong here went missing. Missing person cases were normally treated as normal criminal cases until the revelation that Unrecorded Lifeforms are living among us, and thus every missing person case were investigated as if they were Unrecorded Lifeform cases, hence why these cases were delegated to us after the MCU's formation."

"And then?"

"I've done some investigating and thanks to your sister's website…couldn't believe that I'm using that as my reference...I've managed to trace the last known whereabouts of the missing people."

Khanh Linh then took out a map of Ho Chi Minh City from the file and handed it over to Leo. On the map were several red dots, all scattered around Districts 1, 5, 4, 10, and Phu Nhuan.

"You might be wondering, other than being districts in the city center, what do these places have in common, right?" Khanh Linh continued, producing another map, this time a transparent one, from the file, "Place this map over the first one."

Leo obliged, placing the transparent map over the first map. Much to his surprise, several of the red dots were aligned perfectly with the blue lines drawn on the transparent map.

"That, Lieutenant, is the map for our city's underground sewage system," Khanh Linh said, "I've used accounts from eyewitnesses who said that they last saw Huong entering the sewers in Phu Nhuan District and combined them with the other disappearances that were mentioned in your sister's website, all of which were either people going to the sewers, or people being dragged underground. With the addition of eyewitness testimonies that they saw a half-man half-mole creature that's been dragging these people underground…we have an Unrecorded Lifeform lurking in the sewers."

A smile broke out on Leo's face, "Lieutenant Khanh Linh, you're a genius!"

"Of course," Khanh Linh smiled back, "My intelligence is definitely without a doubt."

"So, what do you have in mind for this Unrecorded Lifeform?" Leo asked.

"I'm thinking of sending an armed platoon down the sewers to engage the Unrecorded Lifeform and retrieve the missing people," Khanh Linh replied.

Leo shook his head, taking out his cellphone, "No, I have a better idea."

Realizing what Leo's talking about, Khanh Linh quickly said, "You're not thinking of sending your sister down there, are you?"

"Sort of," Leo smiled, "I'm going to send Voyager down there, and since Voyager's with my sister right now, I'll ask for her to ask for his help."

Khanh Linh sighed, "I knew it. Why do you trust this Voyager so much?"

"Didn't you remember?" Leo asked back, "He's the only one capable enough of taking out these Unrecorded Lifeforms"

"Yeah," Khanh Linh rolled her eyes, "By using the power of other Unrecorded Lifeforms."

"And your point is?"

"We don't need some guy with a fancy supernatural armor to take down those scums for us," Khanh Linh argued, "Our taskforce with our technology and our weapons are more than enough to take them out. Our old weapons may not work against them, but with the new weapons that we've been supplied with, I'm confident that the HCMCPD would be strong enough to eliminate the threat of the Unrecorded Lifeform by ourselves, without any otherworldly interference."

"Even if what you said is true," Leo argued back, "The presence of an armed platoon might agitate the Unrecorded Lifeform and place the lives of the missing people in even more jeopardy. I suggest that we only send Voyager and my sister's group down there and let the former handle things. I'll use the SIG as liaisons between us and Voyager. If things get out of hand, then I'll allow you to send your platoon as backup."

Khanh Linh sighed, knowing that if she continued the debate, Leo's insistence would make it pointless and time-wasting, "Fine, do whatever you want, you're the boss. But remember, I have more experience here…"

Leo patted Khanh Linh on her shoulder, much to the stern policewoman's surprise, "I know. That's why I'm counting on your experience and genius to help us out here…regardless of your views towards Voyager."

"Thanks," Khanh Linh lets out a grateful smile, however her thoughts were saying something else, " _Let's see if you're going to say that again once I've thrown that Voyager behind bars…I'll let you be in charge for now, Lieutenant Leo…but mark my words, one day I will put an end to your beloved masked vigilante and prove to you that we humans can eliminate those otherworldly scums ourselves!_ "

 **xxx**

 _ **District 5**_

After Steffi and her gang had bought Krishna and Karin new shoes, the group took Krishna to a salon in District 5, where the young man's unkempt chin-length hair was trimmed and styled. Now sporting a dashing-looking Cristiano Ronaldo-style undercut hairstyle, Krishna sat outside the salon building, enjoying a bottle of Fanta as Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Karin were having manicures inside.

" _Man, I never knew this city was quite wonderful!_ " Krishna thought as he sipped his drink, " _Steffi was right, you cannot consider yourself a true traveler unless you experienced the city at first-hand. And after experiencing a portion of what this city has to offer at first-hand…I think I'm gonna enjoy it here._ "

"Help!"

That cry for help brought Krishna back to reality, the young man quickly placing his Fanta bottle on the ground as he stood up, his eyes scanning the surroundings for anything out of the ordinary.

"Help! My purse!"

Seeing that the cry for help came from a nearby bus stop, Krishna quickly ran over towards there. There, he found a 17-year old young girl, dressed in a white shirt and a navy-blue skirt. She has a short, medium-sized build, lightly tanned skin, black, shoulder-length straight black hair with a slight bang over her forehead, and a pair of glasses on her face. An expression of fear was written all over the girl's face, as if something catastrophic had just happened to her?

"What happened?" Krishna asked.

"My purse…" the girl whimpered, before she pointed towards the right side of the bus stop, "That guy took it!"

Krishna looked towards the direction that the girl pointed to and saw a man dressed in black running frantically away from the area with a blue and red purse in his possession, shoving fellow pedestrians aside in the process. Turning his attention back towards the young girl, Krishna said reassuringly, "Don't worry. I'll help you get it back."

Immediately Krishna ran after the man, his trained physique allowing him to catch up with the criminal within no time. Immediately once he got close, Krishna jumped to the air, performing a powerful knee strike onto the man's head, knocking him down to the ground.

"What the fuck man?!" the man cursed once Krishna forced him to stood up, "What do you do that for?!"

"Give me that!" Krishna said, swiping the purse from the man's possession as onlookers began to gather around them, "This isn't yours."

The man snickered, "I see, someone's trying to play the hero. Let's see if you can survive this!"

The man took out a Swiss army knife and brandishes it at Krishna, shocking the onlookers around the two. Undeterred by the man's threatening gesture, Krishna kicked the knife out of the man's hand, before landing a couple of jabs onto the man's chest, a powerful uppercut to the chin following suit.

Rubbing his bruised chin in pain, the man lets out a growl, trying to land a hit onto Krishna, only for the young man to easily grab the criminal's hands, before kicking the man right on the stomach, knocking him down once again. Growling in anger, the man tried to pick up his Swiss army knife from the ground, only for Krishna to kick the weapon away from him and land a perfect jab onto the man's face, knocking the now bloodied and bruised man out.

Rubbing his hands in satisfaction, Krishna grabbed the unconscious criminal and asked a nearby bystander, "Where's the nearest police station?"

 **xxx**

 _ **Fifteen minutes later**_

Having handed the criminal over to the authorities, Krishna returned to the bus stop, handing the purse back to the girl.

"Here you go," Krishna said, a smile on his face, "Told you I'm going to help you get it back."

The girl immediately beamed in happiness once she received her purse back, "Wow, thank you so much! How did you managed to get it back? The guy had a knife with him!"

"Let's just say…" Krishna replied, flexing his muscles confidently, "I've got some training in self-defense."

"But that was reckless! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Nah, it's okay. At least you've gotten your purse back, right?"

The girl nodded slowly, "That's true. Thank God you're trained, otherwise…"

"May I know your name?" Krishna asked, quickly changing the conversation subject.

"It's Ngan, Le Hoai Kim Ngan. How about yours?"

"Krishna. Just call me Krishna," Krishna replied, "Who are you waiting for here? I see a couple of buses coming back and forth here but you didn't board any of them."

"I'm waiting for my sister," Ngan replied, "She's going to pick me up here."

"Pick you up?" Krishna blinked, before he noticed a small nametag on Ngan's shirt, "Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted?"

"That's my high school," Ngan said, pointing at a large, colonial-looking building located nearby, "I just finished my classes for the day. Usually I wait here for my sister or her friend to pick me up."

"I see."

"There you are, Krishna!"

Steffi and her group ran across the road towards the bus stop, with Karin bringing Krishna's half-drank bottle of Fanta. Immediately Krishna waved at the group.

"You girls!"

"Were have you been! We've just finished our manicures and you were supposed to wait for us in front of the salon!" Steffi scolded.

"Sorry about that," Krishna said rather sheepishly, "A robber had taken this girl's purse and I helped her get it back."

"Friends of yours?" Ngan asked.

"You can say that," Krishna nodded.

At the same time, a silver Mercedes-Benz S-500 pulled itself into a stop next to the group. The front window of the car was rolled down, revealing both Minh and Thao, the latter behind the Merc's wheel.

"Oh my God!" Kim gawked as she saw Minh, "That's the young billionaire and philanthropist Le Thao Minh! What is she doing here?"

"I heard that she's working together with my brother's taskforce now," Steffi added, "An amazing young lady indeed…even though she's rich, she always does something to give back to the society."

Krishna's eyes went wide for a brief second, " _Le Thao Minh? Where have I heard that name before…_ "

" _Nee-chan_!" Ngan called out as she rushed towards the car while at the same time Minh stepped out of it, the two then proceeded to embrace each other.

"Hey there, sis!" Minh replied happily, before releasing her embrace on Ngan, "How's your day at school?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Ngan replied, "Until when my purse got robbed that is."

Minh's eyes went wide in both disbelief and worry, "You got WHAT?!"

"Don't worry, _nee-chan_!" Ngan said quickly and reassuringly, before she pointed at Krishna, "That nice young man over there helped me get it back!"

Both Krishna and Minh looked at each other and for a split-second a startled look appeared on their faces.

" _That man…where have I seen him before? He looks familiar..._ " Minh thought as she looked at Krishna from head to toe.

Krishna's thoughts were racing as well, " _Is that Le Thao Minh? She looks oddly familiar…could it be…_ "

"Thank you for helping my sister," Minh said, trying to break off the awkwardness between her and Krishna, "I really appreciate that."

"You're welcome," Krishna replied, rather awkwardly as well, "Take good care of her, okay?"

After Ngan had left with both Minh and Thao, Steffi and her group hailed a bus heading towards District 1 for their next destination. As the group boarded the bus, Steffi noticed that Krishna was frozen in his place.

"You okay bro?" Steffi asked.

Krishna quickly shook his head as he came back to his senses, "No, no, I'm okay. It's just…"

"…you're hungry, right?" Steffi guessed, which Krishna replied with a series of nods, "I knew it. Get in. I know a great place where we could get lunch."

 **xxx**

 _ **Saigon Central Post Office, District 1**_

The group had gathered around a small table in front of the breathtaking Saigon Central Post Office, a popular tourist spot in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City's District 1. Parked nearby was an orange and black food truck, the word " _Banhtastic Mi_ " emblazoned all over the truck. Krishna lets out a slight chuckle on the truck's name, until Steffi told him that the truck sells _banh mi_ , Vietnamese-styled sandwich that consisted of oven-roasted seasoned pork belly, Vietnamese sausage, cheese, fried eggs, cucumber, carrots, and the obligatory cilantro and mayonnaise.

Once his _banh mi_ had arrived, Krishna wasted no time in digging in and before he knew it, an explosion of flavors erupted in his mouth.

"My God…this is good," Krishna commented, taking another bite of his _banh mi_ , "I could have this every day."

"You liked it?" Steffi asked as she munched her own _banh mi_.

"Like it? I love it," Krishna replied, licking away the mayonnaise on his lips, "But in my opinion, this would be the number two best food truck meal that I had."

"What's number one then?" Kim asked.

"I'm gonna let you girls guess," Krishna said, biting off a piece of his _banh mi_ and eating it before continuing, "I'll give you the first clue though. It's in America."

"You've been to America?!" Kim gawked, almost spitting out her _banh mi_ out of shock, "So cool! To which city that you've been? New York? Miami? Seattle? Detroit? Los Angeles?"

"I've been to New York, Miami, and LA, but the number one food truck for me was not in those cities," Krishna said, swallowing the last of the _banh mi_ in his mouth, "In fact, you girls might probably never have heard of this city until today."

"What is it?" Vy asked.

"It's a fledgling city called Prometheus Falls," Krishna answered, quickly biting onto and munching on a cucumber that almost fell off from his _banh mi_ , "Mmm, crunchy."

"I think I've heard of that place before!" Vy exclaimed, "I've read on one of my scientific journals that Prometheus Falls was one of the leading places for artificial intelligence development in not only America, but in the world as well! I've always wanted to visit both Prometheus Falls and Silicon Valley when I visit America."

"You bookworm," Kim teased, punching Vy on her shoulder.

"Whatever," Vy pouted, rubbing her shoulder in slight irritation, "While everyone always wanted to go to Los Angeles or New York, or San Francisco for their trip to America, I've always wanted to study more underneath the brilliant minds at both Prometheus Falls and Silicon Valley. Perhaps I could get a job at Apple…or Microsoft…or Google…or even Rising Industries? Who knows?"

"Chase your dreams and it'll happen, Vy," Krishna gave Vy an encouraging pat on the shoulder, before proceeding to take out his wallet from his trouser pocket. Rummaging through it, Krishna pulled out a small photograph for the group to see.

"Who's that?" Steffi asked, examining the photograph that has Krishna posing together with a young man of African-American and Hispanic heritage in front of a royal blue food truck.

"A friend of mine," Krishna replied, "His name is Luke Anders and he's the chef of Big Guy Bites, possibly the best food truck that I've ever visited. If you go to America and to Prometheus Falls, you should visit his truck and try out his tacos and burgers, they're the best!"

Swallowing the last of her _banh mi_ , Karin joined in the group, before noticing the photograph of Luke and Krishna in the latter's hand. A smile broke out on the Arcana Maojin's face as she reminisced the meeting between Krishna and Luke.

"Ah yes, Luke Anders," Karin said, "We met him around two years ago, when Krishna was touring America. Other than being a chef and a student, Luke's also an armored warrior just like Krishna, or a Kamen Rider, as you people like to call it. I think his designation was Kamen Rider Wild?"

"Yeah, Kamen Rider Wild," Krishna nodded, "The three of us fought strange monsters called Beastmen together during our stay there. Sadly, there were no Maojins there for us to take out, but with a pleasant guy like Luke and his amazing friends, our trip to Prometheus Falls was a memorable one. To be honest, you girls kinda reminded us of Luke and his friends."

"Really?" Steffi blushed slightly, "If this Luke guy and his friends are as good as you told us, I take that as a compliment."

Before the conversation could continue, however, the group was startled by screams of terror coming from the nearby Notre Dame Cathedral.

"Maojin," Karin told Krishna, which the young man replied with a nod.

"Let's go!" Krishna exclaimed as Karin transformed into her card form, the young man grabbing her and pocketing her before going straight towards the direction of the screams.

"Wait for us!" Steffi hollered, before turning her attention towards Vy, "Vy, do you bring your camera with you?"

Vy shook her head slightly, "Unfortunately not, but don't worry, I've got my phone!"

"That'll do!" Steffi nodded, before she quickly went after both Krishna and Karin, "Let's go!"

 **xxx**

 _ **Notre Dame Cathedral, District 1**_

A terrifying-looking humanoid creature stood in front of the famed Notre Dame Cathedral, freaking out the tourists visiting the area. Behind the creature was a large hole that the creature came out from, bits and pieces of broken asphalt and stones scattered around it. The creature was based on a mole, covered from head to toe in brown fur with orange armor on its shoulders, elbows, knees, crotch, chest, and head. A pair of large orange claws adorned the creature's hands, while a silver drill was present on the creature's nose. The creature's head armor resembled that of a miner's hard hat, complete with a glowing turquoise gem that goes well with the creature's turquoise eyes. Confirming the creature's identity as a Maojin was the golden belt with a yellow loincloth hanging out of it on the creature's waist.

The Mole Maojin roared to the heavens, announcing its arrival, before making its advance towards a Taiwanese tourist couple who were holding onto each other in sheer terror.

"You two would make a fine addition to my collection," the Mole Maojin spoke with a sinister male voice as he approached the two Taiwanese.

"Please, oh, please, spare us!" the female Taiwanese tourist begged.

"Just take me!" the male Taiwanese tourist, the female's boyfriend, added, "Do whatever you want with me, but please don't lay a finger on my girlfriend!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the Mole Maojin said, raising his right claw, "Now, it's lights out for you two!"

"Hey, Monty Mole!"

The Mole Maojin turned around to see Krishna running towards him, his ScanDriver already on his waist. This momentary distraction gave the Taiwanese couple a chance to retreat to the sidelines.

"Ah, if it isn't Voyager," the Mole Maojin greeted in disgust, "Here to dig your own grave, I see?"

"The only one who's digging his own grave is you, Nine of Coins," Krishna replied, taking out his Thunder Kabuto card, " **Henshin!** "

 **ACE HENSHIN! THUNDER KABUTO!**

Steffi and her gang arrived just in time to see Voyager in his default Thunder Form grappling against the Mole Maojin, the Rider landing a couple of punches onto his opponent's face. Immediately upon seeing the Mole Maojin, Steffi's eyes went wide in surprise.

"It's the Mole Man!" Steffi gasped.

"The Mole Man?" Kim added, "You mean that cryptid that we've been investigating for the past two weeks?!"

"That's the one!" Steffi replied, "Now I kinda regret leaving that case behind due to investigating other cryptids…"

Quickly Vy took out her phone and recorded the fight, just as Steffi's own phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Steffi said upon picking up her phone.

" _Hey sis, it's Leo_ ," came Leo's reply from the phone, " _Listen, are you girls still investigating the Mole Man case?_ "

"Actually Voyager's fighting him in front of our eyes right now," Steffi replied, as Voyager kicked the Mole Maojin twice on his head.

" _Really?!_ " Leo gawked, before he quickly regained his composure, " _Right, this just made my job easier. Remember the disappearance of Le Quynh Huong and the subsequent disappearance of people in the HCMC city center?_ "

"Yeah," Steffi nodded, "We suspect that it was the Mole Man who did that…but unfortunately with the numerous appearances of cryptids lately, we hadn't had time to investigate further."

" _Good news for you, now's your chance_ ," Leo said, " _We've done our investigation of ourselves and we've managed to trace the disappearance to an Unrecorded Lifeform living in the city center's sewers_."

"I knew it," Steffi smirked, "What do you want us to do?"

" _Since Voyager's busy handling the Unrecorded Lifeform, I want you girls to go down in the sewers and search for the missing people_."

"Sure, I think we've got our thermal scanning devices with us right now. Why don't you send your men there?"

" _You've got Krishna with you, right? I believe he's more than enough to do the job. But just in case things goes south, I've asked my deputy to prepare an armed platoon to back you guys up._ "

"Thanks bro. I think we'll handle it but if we ran into trouble, we'll contact you again."

" _Sure. I'll be in touch. See you_ ," Leo said before hanging up the phone.

Back to the fight between Voyager and the Mole Maojin, the latter slashed the former several times with his large claws, before landing a powerful upward slash onto Voyager's chest that sent the Rider tumbling to the ground.

"Is that what you've got?" the Mole Maojin taunted.

Voyager slowly stood up, wisps of smoke billowing out from the dents on his chest armor inflicted by the Mole Maojin's massive claws but underneath the Rider's helmet was a confident smirk.

"Glad you asked," Voyager replied, taking out his Inferno Komodo card, "Now let's see how you fare when I turn up the heat!"

 **ACE HENSHIN! INFERNO KOMODO!**

 **(Cue BGM: Burnmite no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

Letting out a wave of heat from his transformation to his Inferno Form, Voyager slowly assumed a relaxed stance, allowing steam to burst out from the joints on his armor.

"Ah, that felt good," Voyager commented, cracking his neck twice before assuming his fighting stance, "Evil shall be burned into crisp!"

Voyager charged forward, executing a couple of jabs onto the Mole Maojin's chest, before grabbing the kaijin and locking him into a rear naked choke. Bashing the Mole Maojin's head a couple of times with his left fist, Voyager released his hold on the creature and gave him a solid kick to the rear end, sending the Mole Maojin crashing face-first to the ground.

As the Mole Maojin slowly stood up, Voyager wailed punches upon punches onto the kaijin's body, finishing the crippling combo with a powerful roundhouse kick to the Mole Maojin's face. And to top it all off, Voyager went rushing towards the recovering Mole Maojin, preparing a punch with his right fist that forced the kaijin to brace himself for the inevitable…

…only for Voyager to stop half-way through.

"Eh?" blinked the clearly confused Mole Maojin, "What's going on?"

Suddenly a stream of flames came out from the gaps between the fingers on Voyager's right fist, striking the Mole Maojin right on his eyes! Immediately the kaijin collapsed to the ground, clutching his burning eyes in agony.

"Man, I should do that more often," Voyager chuckled as he saw the Mole Maojin frantically putting out the fire on his eyes. But much to Voyager's surprise, instead of blinding the Mole Maojin, the fire did nothing apart from sending the Mole Maojin into a flying rage.

 **(BGM ends)**

"Do you forget that I'm a mole?!" the Mole Maojin growled as the drill on his nose began to spin rapidly, "Even if that sneaky attack of yours blinded my eyes, I can still fight without them! Now…I'm going to show you my true power!"

And with that, the Mole Maojin dove straight into the ground, disappearing within seconds. Realizing that his opponent had vanished, Voyager immediately assumed his fighting stance, waiting for the moment the Mole Maojin returned to the surface…

"PEEK-A-BOO!"

Suddenly the ground underneath Voyager's feet burst open, with the Mole Maojin leaping out of it. The Maojin struck Voyager right on his chest with his drill nose, a shower of sparks flying out from where the drill had struck Voyager as he was sent stumbling back in both pain and shock.

"What the fuck was that?!" Voyager cursed and before he knew it, the Mole Maojin had vanished underground once again, "Now, where is he?!"

Assuming his fighting stance once again, Voyager prepared himself for the Mole's reappearance, clenching his fists tightly as he was determined to punch the lights out of the Maojin once he had surfaced. Unfortunately for the Rider, the Mole Maojin had resurfaced…a few meters behind Voyager.

Cackling madly, the Mole Maojin made a dash towards Voyager, striking the hero in the back with his drill nose before disappearing underground quickly the moment the Rider had realized what just happened.

"Oy!" Voyager called out, clenching his left fist even more tightly as his right hand clutched his now slightly injured back, "Show yourself!"

Steffi and her friends could only watch on in horror as the Mole Maojin jumped out of the ground once again, this time blindsiding Voyager from the Rider's right side. Seconds afterwards the Mole Maojin landed yet another hit, this time his drill piercing through Voyager's left shoulder armor. Grunting in pain, Voyager collapsed to the ground, clutching his now injured left shoulder.

"That cryptid actually broke through Inferno Form's defenses…" Steffi muttered in disbelief.

Standing over the downed Voyager, the Mole Maojin lets out another mad cackle, savoring every minute of the misery that he had inflicted onto Voyager.

"Now, I would have stayed here and beat you up even further," the Mole Maojin said, before glancing at the Taiwanese couple in the sidelines, who were huddling each other in both fear and shock, "But I have more important things to do!"

And with that the Mole Maojin once again dove underground, quickly making his way towards the Taiwanese couple.

Realizing what's going on, Voyager slowly stood up, fighting the pain racking throughout his body as he does so.

"Run!" Voyager yelled at the Taiwanese couple, but it was all in vain.

Before they could realize it, a fissure opened underneath the Taiwanese couple's feet, effectively swallowing them underground to the horror of not only Voyager, but also Steffi, Kim, and Vy as well.

"Damn it!" Voyager cursed, punching the ground three times in frustration, before reverting to Krishna, "Damn it!"

"Krishna!"

Quickly Steffi, Kim, and Vy went over towards Krishna, the three of them looking clearly concerned.

"Are you okay?" Steffi asked.

"I'll fight another day," Krishna replied, however his eyes were fixated on the nearby hole where the Taiwanese couple once stood, "However…"

"It's okay, we'll save them," Steffi cuts in, before turning her attention towards her friends, "Let's go!"

"Wait!" Krishna called out, grabbing onto Steffi's wrist to stop her, "It's too dangerous for you girls to go. Let Karin and I go by ourselves. Just enjoy the rest of your day, okay?"

Steffi quickly released Krishna's hold on her, much to the young man's surprise.

"No, we're going," Steffi insisted, pointing at the nearby hole, "If we go in there, we can catch up to that cryptid and save them, right?"

"Steffi, it's too dangerous," Krishna shook his head, "I've fought these creatures for a long time, okay? I know what I'm doing. Please, stay here, and go on with your day without me."

"But Krishna, you know damn well that we can take care of ourselves out there!" Steffi protested.

"Yeah, I even managed to hold off a cryptid before you showed up yesterday!" Kim added, showing Krishna the bruises on her cheeks and neck from her encounter with the Seahorse Maojin the previous day, "See? And I'm still alive and kicking right now."

"Please, you would have been toast if I didn't interfere," Krishna scoffed, earning himself a pout from Kim, "Girls, listen to me. I appreciate what you girls do…but don't you think that what you've been doing is…reckless? Have you ever had any regard for your safety? Remember, the Maojins are dangerous creatures, you can't just go near them like they're some kind of petting zoo animal!"

"We know!" Steffi argued back, "But…"

"No buts!" Krishna interrupted, "At least your brother and his team are now well-equipped to take the Maojins on, but you girls are not. Please, for your own safety, stay out of this. I don't want anyone else who are not involved with my fight against the Maojin to get hurt, especially after…"

Krishna stopped himself immediately, his right hand slowly clenching into a fist as flashbacks of Sobee's death were played repeatedly in his mind.

"Krishna…" Steffi muttered, clearly concerned for Krishna. Kim and Vy were left speechless by Krishna's words, however just like their friend, they were also concerned for him.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Krishna immediately went towards the hole, his decision to go there by himself final.

" _Sorry girls_ ," Krishna thought to himself as he jumped into the hole, " _You three are amazing people…and because of that I can't allow you to endanger yourselves even further. I don't want what happened to Sobee to happen with you three…_ "

As Krishna disappeared underground, Steffi lets out an exasperated sigh, stomping on the ground in sheer frustration as she took out her phone.

"That idiot!" Steffi grumbled as she dialed Leo's number with her friends trying their best to calm her down, "Bro?"

" _Hey sis_ ," came Leo's reply, " _What's up?_ "

Steffi took several deep breaths, being instructed to do so by Kim. At the same time, Vy decided to make a run to a nearby vending machine and bought a cool bottle of water from it, handing the beverage over to Steffi as quickly as possible.

" _Sis? You okay?_ " Leo asked as Steffi calmed herself down by drinking the bottle of water that Vy had bought her.

"I'm good," Steffi replied as soon as she had finished drinking and calmed herself down, "It's Krishna."

" _Krishna? Did something happen to him?_ " Leo asked.

Steffi sighed, "He ditched us. We're literally on our own here."

 **xxx**

Leo immediately facepalmed upon hearing what Steffi had just told him. To think that Kamen Rider Voyager, the only person he knew that can go toe-to-toe with the Maojins, had the gall to _**abandon**_ his sister and her friends who as far as Leo knew had little to none combat experience against anyone…it's just unimaginable.

Plus, with that smug-looking grin that Khanh Linh's putting up right now after overhearing his conversation…looks like Leo's going to concede defeat here.

"Well, well, well…" Khanh Linh smiled smugly after Leo had hung up his phone, "Was that your sister?"

Leo nodded.

"Care to tell me what happened?" Khanh Linh asked, still with that smug look of hers.

Letting out a sigh, Leo said, "We've ran into a…small problem, so to speak."

Khanh Linh nodded, "Let me guess…Voyager, huh?"

"I need to ask my sister to give more detail about this…it's not like him to just…"

"Save it, Lieutenant Leo. I'll send my men down there right now. It's too risky to let your sister and her friends go down there without anyone watching their backs."

"But we don't know what we're facing down there!" Leo argued, "It's too much of a risk to send an entire armed platoon down there."

"What other options do we have, huh?!"

"Me."

Both Leo and Khanh Linh turned around to see a familiar figure standing in front of the office's entrance, a warm smile on the figure's face. Immediately a look of relief washed over Leo's face, while a look of utter shock was written all over Khanh Linh.

"But you've just got out of the…"

"Save it, Lieutenant Khanh Linh," the figure said, "I'll make sure that Leo's sister and her friends are safe and sound, you can have my word for it."

 **xxx**

"So you're telling me…you've met Voyager's human form today?"

Having dropped off Ngan at her friend's house where Ngan had been staying for the past two years, Minh went straight back to the LIT, where she talked about how she had met Krishna over lunch with Tran in Tran's room. Despite having an IV drip linked to her arm from her previous therapy, Tran looked cheerful as usual, enjoying her small bowl of mashed potatoes.

"The guy literally hasn't changed after all these years," Minh said, taking a bite of her _banh mi_ , "Last time I saw him was around…5 years ago, I think? Maybe I need to check again…taking care of Lotus Industries sure does wonders to your memory!"

"I see. So what are you going to do now?" Tran asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Minh replied, swallowing the last of her _banh mi_ before taking out her phone, opening the SIG website with it and showing it to Tran, "I'm going to hunt for some Maojins. This website had helped me a lot in my previous hunts and I'm going to use it to track down Voyager."

"Because whenever a Maojin shows up, Voyager would be there too."

"Correct," Minh smiled, "The hottest case right now is the case of the Mole Man…for the past two weeks people have been disappearing around downtown Ho Chi Minh City, with eyewitnesses saying that they were pulled underground by some unknown force. If my hunch is correct…Voyager's tracking down this Maojin as well!"

"And if Voyager doesn't show up?" Tran asked.

"He can wait another day," Minh smirked as she pocketed her phone and went towards the exit, "At least…I'll have my Earth Tribe power-up for my ArmTrans, right?"

"Riiight," Tran giggled, "Good luck!"

"You too," Minh winked, "Now rest well, okay? We'll have another round of chemo for you later tonight."

Tran gave Minh a thumbs up before the latter took her leave, leaving Tran all by herself in her room. Once she had made sure that Minh was not around her anymore, Tran silently placed her bowl on a nearby nightstand, before taking out her phone, which has a lot of missed calls from an unknown number. Looking around to make sure that no one's there to see or hear her, Tran quickly dialed the unknown number.

" _Hello?_ " Rin's voice was heard from the other side of the line.

"Sorry for not replying to your calls," Tran said, almost whispering to make sure that she's not heard by anyone, before her voice slowly shifted to that of Star's as her eyes glowed orange, albeit still speaking as if she's almost whispering, " _ **Minh was bothering me for quite a while…I didn't had time to contact you. How did the meeting went last night?**_ "

" _It went well_ ," came the reply, " _Apart from the fact that we have another nuisance to deal with other than Voyager. A black and blue warrior had terminated the latest Maojin that I'd sent to attack some Lotus Industries factories_."

" _ **Ah, the Thunder Tribe's Nine of Shields**_. _**A brave warrior indeed, that firefly.**_ "

" _You didn't sound concerned at all_."

" _ **Because, my dear Rin, that black and blue warrior is my peon, an important piece of my plan**_ ," Tran said, a sly smirk appearing on her face, " _ **I've sacrificed a few of my kind so that that warrior could grow stronger…so that she could execute my plan perfectly.**_ "

" _You have got to be kidding me_ ," Rin replied in utter disbelief, " _To think that you…_ "

" _ **My dear Rin, don't jump into conclusions,**_ " Tran told Rin slyly, " _ **I know that you ordered that hit on that man. But what you don't know…**_ " Tran then whispered a few words into her phone, prompting a startled gasp from the other side of the line.

" _WHAT?!_ " Rin gawked in surprise.

" _ **Small world that we live in, eh? Turns out your little business competition has enabled me to cook up an excellent plan that would not eliminate Voyager, the biggest bane of my kind's existence, but also eliminate the last person standing in your way of placing this city underneath your company's control.**_ "

" _What are you trying to say?_ "

Tran then proceeded to whisper into her phone, to which Rin replied with a sinister chuckle.

" _Well then…_ " Rin said, clearly interested by what Tran had told her, " _We'll see how it goes_."

" _ **We'll see. If it goes well, it'll be like killing two birds with one stone…**_ ," Tran smirked, before she lets out an evil chuckle that echoed throughout the vacant LIT penthouse...

 **xxx**

Meanwhile, at the lowest level of the LIT's underground parking lot, Minh and Thao stepped out of the elevator, heading towards an area in the parking lot that has been cordoned off from public usage. There were several cars parked in the area, all of them the latest in the range of supercars, sport cars, and luxurious cars, and all of them were Minh's. The young woman had a knack of collecting high-end cars, switching them each time she goes out to the point of never using the same car twice in the same month.

"Which one should we use?" Minh asked as she and Thao checked out the multitude of cars around them, "The Jag?"

"You already used that last week," Thao replied.

"Alright. How about the Bentley?"

"Already used."

"Supra?"

"You used that earlier this month."

"The DB9?"

"You used that the day after you used the Supra, Minh."

"The S-Class?"

Thao rolled her eyes, "Again? We've already used the S-Class when we picked up Ngan, didn't you remember?"

Minh slapped her own forehead in realization, "Ah right, I forgot. Any suggestion on what should we use today?"

"The Evo," Thao replied, pointing at a nearby cobalt blue Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, "We haven't used for quite a while, I think."

"Nice," Minh smirked in excitement, as the Evo has always been one of her favorite cars, "Excellent choice indeed."

The two young women then got into the car, with Thao behind the wheel as usual. As Thao warmed up the car's engine, Minh slowly took out something from her jeans pocket. It was a Maojin Card, with the card depicting an image of a manta ray jumping out of the ocean with a moonlit background on its front side, while the backside of the card, like any other Maojin Card, was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **A** superimposed on a cup engraved on it. A blue line was present on the left-hand side of the card's front, the words **MARINE MANTA** was emblazoned in white on the line, while the familiar blue swirling circle icon was present on the card's top left corner.

"Lead us the way, Manta," Minh spoke softly as she placed the card onto the Evo's dashboard, before turning her attention towards Thao, "Let's go."

Nodding, Thao immediately floors the Evo's gas, and the car soon made its way outside the LIT parking lot complex and into the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.

 **xxx**

 _ **Somewhere underneath Ho Chi Minh City**_

It has been 20 minutes since Krishna went underground in search for the Mole Maojin and the Taiwanese couple that the kaijin had took, but so far, his search has been futile. He even let Karin out in her human form for her to use her Maojin senses to detect anything out of the ordinary, only to find nothing at all. Sighing in frustration, Krishna sat against a nearby wall, not caring that sewage water was dripping all over him from above, staining his new haircut, his jacket, not to mention his shirt.

"Damn," Krishna muttered as Karin sat next to him, the sewage water drenching her hair and clothing as well, "No signs of them. Had any luck?"

"Nope," Karin shook her head, "Even my instincts couldn't detect where they are…that mole is one sneaky bastard."

Suddenly the two were startled by a loud thud noise that came from nearby. Immediately Krishna and Karin stood up, exchanging nods, before running off towards the source of the noise, knowing that the Mole Maojin could be there.

But once Krishna and Karin discovered what had made that noise…

"Oh for fuck's sake."

Steffi smiled sheepishly, having slipped to the moist ground a few seconds earlier. Kim and Vy were there too, helping Steffi back to her feet, with equally sheepish grins on their faces. Karin sighed, facepalming at the sight in front of her, while Krishna shook his head in utter dismay.

 **xxx**

 _ **Five minutes later**_

"What are you girls doing here?"

Steffi remained silent as Krishna patched up her slightly bruised ankle, the injury being inflicted by her earlier slip. Kim, Vy, and Karin were sitting nearby, the trio leaning themselves against a nearby wall. Slowly after he had finished patching Steffi's ankle, Krishna helped Steffi back to her feet, a slightly relieved smile on his face as he saw Steffi managing to stand up on her own despite limping a bit.

"Again, I ask you," Krishna said once Steffi had regained her balance, "What are you girls doing here?"

"Helping you, duh," Steffi replied, "We came here to help you search for that mole cryptid."

"Didn't I tell you that it was too dangerous?"

"Yeah, and so what? We've been doing this for quite a while, Krishna. We know the risks."

"You already got yourself hurt. Just leave this to the me, okay? I got this. Besides, Karin would help me in doing things that I couldn't do here."

"Oh yeah? Do you even know that we've been investigating this case before you even set your foot into this city?"

"Really? Prove it to me."

"That Taiwanese couple wasn't the cryptid's only victims, Krishna. That creature has been responsible for several people going missing in the HCMC city center."

"What the fuck?!" Krishna cursed in disbelief.

"That is why it is very important for us to track down this cryptid and rescue the people that the creature had took."

"I know that! But it's still too dangerous for you girls to tag along with me."

"ENOUGH!" Karin yelled all of the sudden, startling both Krishna and Steffi, "If you two keep arguing like that, we won't get anywhere! The lives of that couple is at stake here and if we couldn't find them or the Maojin…well…I could only say that it'll be really, really bad."

"Krishna, please," Kim added, "Like Steffi said, we know the risks. We've already placed our lives in the line investigating these creatures for the sake of the city. Can't you let us help you? Even Steffi's brother was more than welcome to accept our help for his taskforce. Why can't you do the same?"

"Because I can't let any of you get hurt, okay?!" Krishna snapped, startling everyone there before he realized what he had just said, "Sorry, I'm so sorry, it's just…"

"It's okay Krishna," Karin said softly, "You can tell them."

"Tell?" Vy blinked, "Tell us what?"

"Don't tell me…" an equally shocked Steffi muttered, her mind managing to piece together the reason behind Krishna's reluctance in allowing the SIG to assist him, " _Was it because of that Sobee girl?_ "

Krishna took a deep breath, calming himself down for a few seconds. Once he had regained control over his emotions, Krishna started his story, "You girls…you three…and Leo…and Hako…and Thy…you are all amazing people, welcoming me to this city with open arms. Especially you, Steffi. When your brother asked me to stay at your place…to be honest…this was the first time for 108 years that I felt that I was being drawn into a family. You girls were so tightly knit, you reminded me not only of Luke and his friends back in Prometheus Falls…but also of a certain family that I stayed with when I was in Thailand."

"108 years? What do you mean?" Steffi asked.

"108 years ago, I stayed in what is present day Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand," Krishna continued, "I was welcomed by a family of peasants who took care of me when I came to the area injured after a battle against a Maojin."

" _Nakhon Ratchasima?_ " Steffi's thoughts wondered as she listened to Krishna's story, as apparently that name struck something in her mind, " _Why does that place sound familiar…_ "

Realizing that Steffi is spacing out, Krishna asked, "You okay?"

Shaking her head as she came back to her senses, Steffi replied, "Yeah, I'm good. Just continue."

Nodding, Krishna continued his story, "I was taken in by that family and nursed back to health with them. In exchange for their kindness and a roof for me to sleep underneath with, I helped with their farming work and took care of the family's only daughter, Sobee."

"So, that's who Sobee is…"

"Correct," Krishna nodded rather solemnly, "I lived peacefully with that family for quite a while…to the point that Sobee considered me as an older brother that she never had. We had a good time together...but unfortunately like all good things, it had to end."

"What happened?" Vy asked.

"The Maojin that injured me…" Krishna continued, taking out his Thunder Kabuto card and giving it a solemn look, "…he decided to attack Sobee's village. The Ace of Shields, the Kabuto Maojin. The very creature that powered my Rider form."

"And then?"

"I fought the Kabuto Maojin in a fierce battle…but unfortunately that battle ravaged through Sobee's village and destroyed it…and Sobee…she…she…"

Fighting back the tears that are starting to overwhelm his eyes, Krishna pocketed his Thunder Kabuto card and clenched his fists tightly.

"When I said that I've fought the Maojins for a long time…I meant, a really, really long time. And during that time…I saw a lot of people around me die. Innocent women and children, men who had sacrificed their lives fighting alongside me…I saw them die, with my own eyes. I've lost so much friends, so many comrades by the years…I just…"

Krishna broke down into tears, prompting Steffi to place her hand on the young man's shoulder to comfort him as Kim and Vy watched on sadly.

"That's why I told you earlier that you shouldn't mention Sobee in front of him or me," Karin added, "But I guess since you're already a part of this war, you girls deserve to know. Throughout the 657 years that Krishna had fought the Maojins, he had made friends with lots of people…and had to watch them being dragged into his fight and get killed off one by one in front of his eyes. He even lost his own family before becoming Voyager to the Maojins, which is why he considered Sobee's family as the closest thing that he had to a family. And when Sobee and her family perished…he still couldn't forgive himself until this day. And with every innocent blood that the Maojin spilled, that guilt became bigger and bigger."

"That's why Krishna's so dedicated in fighting those cryptids…" Kim concluded.

"He doesn't want what happened to him to happen to everyone else…" Vy added.

Steffi had finished wiping away Krishna's tears, allowing the young man to regain himself. Letting out a thankful nod, Krishna said, "Even though I ran into you girls a few times…your actions towards me had touched me. When I was arrested, you were the one who vouched for my innocence to the point of coming to the police station for me. When I struggled against the Komodo Maojin, you were the one motivating me to fight on. And the fact that you allowed me to stay at your place with open arms…I've begin to consider you three as my family, and I don't want what happened to Sobee's family to happen to you. Which is why…"

"Krishna, it's okay," Steffi said comfortingly, "You don't have to worry about us. When we decided to set up the SIG, we always thought to ourselves, are we being too reckless? Are we biting off more than we can chew? But then we thought about why are we doing this. We're doing this for the sake of the city! We need people to know, that they're not always safe in this city and that monstrous creatures are lurking among them. We want them to stay alert, to prepare themselves for the inevitable…and to help my brother and the police force mopping those creatures up as well. You're not alone in your war, Krishna. You've got us. You've got Leo and the guys at MCU. As long we have the same goal, we'll try to achieve it together. Because sitting here doing nothing won't get us anywhere, right?"

Krishna wiped off the last of his tears, a small smile etched on his face.

"To be honest Krishna, if you join us, we'll be safer than ever," Steffi grinned, "You're a freaking Kamen Rider, dude! We won't need to run away and play hide and seek with those cryptids anymore as well as relying on my brother…we have our own personal bodyguard here, right in front of our eyes. You're the only person that we know who can defeat those cryptids without breaking a sweat, which is why wherever we go on our missions, if you're with us, we know that we'll be safe."

Krishna chuckled upon hearing those remarks, "My God, you sure know how to make someone feel better."

"Meh, I just say what I need to say," Steffi shrugged playfully, "So yeah, from now on, we'll watch each other's backs. How about that? That way no one would get killed until this conflict of yours ends."

"It's a deal," Krishna smiled, and both he and Steffi proceeded to fist-bump one another, much to the delight of Kim, Vy, and Karin.

"Awwh, so sweet."

Everyone turned around to see the Mole Maojin standing in front of them, a mocking grin etched on his mouth.

"I was about to go back to the surface to harvest more humans, but I guess the harvest decided to come to me instead. Three more juicy morsels for the awakening process, how delightful."

"I won't let you touch them!" Krishna exclaimed, taking out his ScanDriver and placing it on his waist as Karin reverted to her card form, flying into the Driver's card holder.

 **READY!**

"Steffi, Kim, Vy, go find the Mole's victims. You said that you've investigated this case before I came, right? I think since he dared to show up here, his lair might be not far away. I'll take care of our friend for us."

Steffi nodded, taking out a small, black scanning device that resembled a barcode scanner commonly found in supermarkets, "Let's go!"

Taking out the same devices, Kim and Vy nodded in unison, before the two of them and Steffi ran off from the area much to the Mole Maojin's dismay.

"My collection!"

"Your opponent is me. **Henshin!** "

 **ACE HENSHIN! INFERNO KOMODO!**

Transforming straight into his Inferno Form, Voyager went for the offensive first, landing a jab onto the Mole Maojin's face. Igniting his fists with fire, Voyager punched the Mole Maojin's chest twice, stunning the kaijin.

 **xxx**

As Steffi and her friends ran through the sewers in search for the Mole Maojin's victims, a million of thoughts flooded into Steffi's mind. Krishna's story about Sobee's death sounded strangely familiar to her, as well as the fact that Krishna had stayed in Nakhon Ratchasima before. Combined with the fact that Krishna was the mysterious warrior from her dreams…it adds more to the mystery surrounding the young man.

" _Krishna…just who are you?_ "

"Steffi!" Vy called out, bringing Steffi back into reality, "I've found some heat signals!"

The trio stopped in front of a small alleyway, with their thermal detecting devices detecting a huge amount of heat signals coming from there indicated by the red mass on their devices' screens.

"You think they might be in there?" Kim asked.

Steffi nodded, "Probably. Can't hurt if we check it out, huh?"

The trio wasted no time in entering the alleyway, the size of the path forcing them to enter it one-by-one.

 **xxx**

Back to Voyager vs. the Mole Maojin, the former had a hard time handling the latter's speed, especially since they're underground, the Mole Maojin's natural element. The Inferno Form's dense armor had done a decent job in protecting Voyager's body from the Mole Maojin's drill strikes, but only time would tell when the armor would give in.

The Mole Maojin burst out from the ground underneath Voyager's feet, once again striking his drill against the Rider's chest. Stumbling back and clutching his slightly damaged chest armor, Voyager leaned himself against the wall, panting heavily as he does so.

"Man, that bastard's even quicker compared to last time!" Voyager muttered, writhing in pain from the injuries inflicted by the Mole Maojin's rapid drill strikes, "If only I could find a way to pull this guy back to the surface…"

Suddenly a familiar pair of claws broke through the wall behind Voyager, grabbing the Rider instantly before the claws dragged Voyager behind the wall. Groaning in pain, Voyager was left open for a swift kick to his chest, before a headbutt to the torso sent him reeling out the wall, clearly dazed and disoriented.

Seeing Voyager's predicament, the Mole Maojin lets out a maddened cackle, "Voyager, you foolish, foolish boy. This is my element. I live here, I breathe here, I can unleash my maximum potential here. This is a battle that you'll never win, Voyager. The sewers of this city shall become your tomb!"

"Not if I could have a say about it."

Suddenly sparks flew from the back of the Mole Maojin's head, startling the kaijin and forcing his attention off the downed Voyager. The Mole Maojin slowly stumbled back, rubbing the back of his head in pain.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!"

A figure stepped out from the shadows, a Strike pistol in its hand. As Voyager saw the figure, the Rider lets out a sigh of relief, knowing all too well that the figure's here to help.

"Glad to see you back, Hako."

Wearing black Kevlar from head to toe and with a matching baseball cap, no one could recognize that the armed-to-the-teeth young woman standing in front of the Mole Maojin was in fact the same young woman that fell victim to the Komodo Maojin's possession only a few days ago. But now Officer…no, Lieutenant Dao Ngoc Phuong Anh is back, and with a vengeance to boot.

"Consider that we're even now, Voyager," Hako told the still-downed Voyager as the Rider struggled to regain his footing, "You saved me from those bastards…and its my turn to save your butt."

"But how do you know that I would be here?" Voyager asked as he finally stood up.

"Leo told me," Hako replied, "The MCU wanted a platoon of armed officers to storm the sewers to both engage the Unrecorded Lifeform and rescue its victims, but Leo felt that it was too risky. So, I volunteered to come here instead by myself to support both you and the SIG."

Voyager bowed in gratitude upon hearing that, "Thanks Hako. I am forever indebted to both you and Leo."

"Don't mention it," Hako chuckled, "Like I said, we're even now, right?"

"Damn you!" the Mole Maojin cursed as he slowly stood up, smoke still coming out from where Hako had shot him earlier on his armored head, "You'll pay for this!"

"Voyager, think of a strategy to beat this guy quick," Hako told the Rider, "I'll distract this guy for a while."

"But how?" Voyager asked, "His attacks were too quick for me! Do you have something that could counter it in the meantime?"

Hako smirked, holstering her Strike and taking out her Buster grenade launcher, "I have this."

Voyager chuckled, "Grenades, huh? That should buy me enough time."

Voyager slowly stepped back to the sidelines, allowing Hako to aim the Buster at the Mole Maojin. Roaring aloud, the Mole Maojin went for his dash attack once again, his drill nose all primed to inflict some serious damage. But unfortunately for the kaijin, Hako was all prepared to inflict some serious damage of her own.

"Fire in the hole!" Hako exclaimed, firing a grenade from the Buster that detonated instantly once it touched the Mole Maojin's head, sending the stunned kaijin tumbling back in agony.

"What the fuck was that?!" the Mole Maojin cursed as he groggily stood up.

"There's mooore," Hako said rather playfully in a sing-song fashion, firing two more grenades that stunned the Mole Maojin even further.

With the smoke from Hako's grenades blanketing the entire area, Voyager took the time to regroup and recover, thinking of a strategy to counter the Mole Maojin's speedy attacks.

"Right, so Inferno Form is useless against this guy," Voyager said as he took out the Inferno Komodo card from his ScanDriver, leaving the Rider in his black bodysuit, "Any ideas, Karin?"

" _ **Thunder Form might work, but considering that we're in the guy's domain, I doubt that it could keep up with him,**_ " Karin replied, before she realized something, " _ **Hang on…I got it!**_ "

"Got what?" Voyager asked.

" _ **We still have that one Ace card that we haven't used yet**_ _._ "

Voyager thought for a moment, before the same realization hits him, "Oh right! How can I forgot about it!"

" _ **Wind Tribe Maojins are always known for being exceptionally speedy when fighting,**_ " Karin said, " _ **Maybe using the Hurricane Eagle card would be the perfect counter for the Mole Maojin's speed!**_ "

"Karin, you fucking genius."

Voyager quickly took out the Hurricane Eagle card from his card holder and inserted it into the ScanDriver, slamming the Driver's tab shut afterwards.

 **ACE HENSHIN! HURRICANE EAGLE!**

A green ring of energy bursts out from the ScanDriver along with a powerful gust of wind, which not only cleared away the smoke enveloping the battlefield and forcing Hako to hold onto her baseball cap, but also blowing away the recovering Mole Maojin off his feet. Dramatic techno music was played out from the ScanDriver as the ring splits into two, scanning through Voyager's body from top to bottom as the translucent screen on the ScanDriver glowed green, displaying a white image of an eagle on it. Voyager's chest insignia changed itself the moment the energy ring scanned itself above it, now being a green circle with an eagle's head sticking out from its right side.

Green grid lines began to materialize around the bodysuit, forming armor pieces that configured themselves onto Voyager's bodysuit. Unlike the bulky design of Inferno Form's armor, the new armor pieces were more streamlined in design, being sky blue in color with a dash of silver and gold on the gauntlets and greaves and silver and red on the torso armor. The most striking feature of the armor were the shoulder armors…or the complete lack of them. Instead, protecting Voyager's shoulders were a pair of rounded sky blue pauldrons with a silver, gold, and red trim.

Last but not least, green grid lines began to materialize around Voyager's helmet, forming a sky blue helmet that has elegance written all over it. The helmet has an eagle-themed headdress, complete with a pair of sky blue wings with dark blue highlights on them, one wing for each side of the helmet, a small eagle's head on the forehead of the helmet that has a pair of green eyes and a golden beak, and a red, feather-shaped crest that rose from the top of the eagle's head. Voyager still retained his yellow eyes, while his silver mouthpiece has a much more smooth and elegant design compared to both Thunder and Inferno Forms. As usual to signal the final phase of the transformation, Voyager's eyes flashed three times, along with the appearance of green lines on the arms, thighs, legs, and the sides of the bodysuit's torso.

As the gust of wind died down, Hako slowly released her hold on her baseball cap, her eyes going wide in awe upon the sight of Voyager's new form. The Mole Maojin was also left speechless as he saw Voyager's new form, awestruck by the elegance oozing from the armor but at the same time wary of the armor's capabilities.

"Kamen Rider Voyager, Hurricane Form," Voyager introduced himself, checking out his new armor in awe at the same time, before he proceeded to point at the Mole Maojin, "I cut apart darkness faster than the speed of light!"

"Is that a challenge?!" the Mole Maojin growled, preparing to execute his dash attack once again, "I accept that!"

The Mole Maojin dashed forward, his drill ready to pierce a hole on Voyager's fancy new armor. Hako immediately grabbed her Strike, preparing herself to shoot the Mole Maojin should he gets too close to Voyager; however, the Rider was more than ready. Just as the Mole Maojin went in for the kill, Voyager swiftly and gracefully twirled around, easily avoiding the Mole Maojin's attack much to both the kaijin and Hako's surprise. Swirling like an elegant ballerina, Voyager came to a stop just behind the shocked Mole Maojin, smirking mockingly underneath his helmet.

"Holy shit!" Hako gasped in disbelief, "Such speed…such elegance…such grace…"

"What the?!" the Mole Maojin gasped, surprised that he had missed his target completely, "Where did he go?!"

"Right here, dumbass."

 **(Cue BGM: Hurricane Slash no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

The Mole Maojin turned around, only to receive an energized chop to the face from Voyager. Before the kaijin could recover, Voyager was at it again, energizing his fists and feet with green energy as he delivered a barrage of punches, chops, and kicks onto the Mole Maojin's body with such speed and precision, the creature had no time to set up his defenses.

Sent reeling by a solid kick to the jaw, the Mole Maojin attempted to slash Voyager with his huge claws, but much to his frustration, Voyager nimbly avoided them, delivering a couple of energized kicks to the chest in return. As the Mole Maojin grunted in pain from the attacks, Voyager quickly charged green energy into his hands, cupping his right hand to his hip and using his left to toss the gathered energy at the Mole Maojin.

" **Hurricane Dart!** " Voyager exclaimed as he fired the gathered energy in a form of a small dart that blasted the Mole Maojin in his chest.

 **xxx**

At another part of the sewers, Steffi and her friends had managed to locate the Mole Maojin's victims, who were all safe, yet unconscious, and were strapped to the walls of the sewers by a black, web-like substance. Thankfully Kim had the ingenious idea of using broken pieces of ceramic, scattered on the ground below the victims, to slice open the restraints, allowing the trio to free the captives.

"That's all of them," Steffi said after she had released Jared, Clive, and the Taiwanese couple from their restraints, the quartet coming to seconds afterwards, "Let's go!"

As Kim and Vy led the victims to safety, Steffi looked around the area one last time to make sure that they haven't missed anyone, before she realized something.

Le Quynh Huong was still missing.

"Girls, have you seen Le Quynh Huong?" Steffi asked, to which Kim and Vy replied with shrugs respectively.

Biting her lower lip nervously, Steffi knew that she must find Le Quynh Huong as soon as possible, but the safety of the other victims remained their number one priority. So, without hesitation, Steffi ran out of the area to escort the victims to safety, with Kim and Vy following suit.

 **xxx**

The Mole Maojin prepared his dash attack once again, launching himself straight at Voyager. The Rider however, had another trick up his sleeve. Just as the Mole Maojin came close to him, Voyager's body glowed green, before breaking down into green light particles. This caused the Mole Maojin to ram the wall behind Voyager instead, getting his drill struck there as a result.

Immediately Voyager reformed himself behind the Mole Maojin, crossing his arms in satisfaction.

"Now, stay put there for the finale!" Voyager exclaimed, taking out an Overcharge Card the moment Steffi, Kim, and Vy arrived, having led the victims out of the sewers from a nearby manhole a few moments earlier.

"Is that another new form?" Steffi gasped upon seeing Voyager's Hurricane Form armor, "I have to admit, that guy has got some taste for his wardrobe."

Steffi then noticed Hako standing on the sidelines, the latter still awestruck from the battle unfolding in front of her.

"Hako!"

Blinking as she was sent back to reality, Hako turned around to see Steffi and her friends running towards her.

"Hey girls!"

"You're out of the hospital already?" Steffi asked.

Hako nodded, "Yeah. Went straight to the HCMCPD after that and overheard about you and your friends going down here to investigate an Unrecorded Lifeform case. I heard that HQ's going to send a whole armed platoon here and your brother felt that it was too risky, so I volunteered myself to come down here."

"I see. Did we miss anything?"

"Only the speediest battle that you've ever imagine. I doubt that your team's camera could capture it."

"It's okay," Vy said, taking out her trusted phone and started recording with it, "I'll just record the finisher for the website."

Voyager quickly inserted the Overcharge Card into his right hip slot and to the surprise of everyone, took out two more Overcharge Cards and inserted them into the slot as well.

 **HURRICANE TRIPLE OVERCHARGE!**

Green energy surged from the ScanDriver and swirled into Voyager's right boot. Voyager took a deep breath, releasing it slowly as the energy gathered in his boot became more and more intense, to the point of his right boot emanating a slightly blinding green glow. Feeling that he had gathered enough energy, Voyager jumped into the air, assuming a flying side kick position and aimed straight for the Mole Maojin's chest.

" **Hurricane Smash!** " Voyager exclaimed as he struck the Mole Maojin once.

Much to everyone's surprise, the Mole Maojin actually endured through the attack, green energy surging throughout his chest but the creature was nonetheless unscratched.

"Hah!" the Mole Maojin scoffed, "Is that what you've got?!"

"Not yet."

Voyager vaulted off a nearby wall, ricocheting back towards the Mole Maojin with his energized right boot this time aiming for the Mole Maojin's stomach.

" **Hurricane Smash!** "

Voyager's boot struck its target cleanly, sending yet another surge of green energy into the Mole Maojin's body that weakened the kaijin considerably. But Voyager wasn't done just yet.

"The finale!" Voyager exclaimed as he bounced off the sewage's ceiling, this time heading straight towards the Mole Maojin's head, " **Hurricane Smash!** "

The Mole Maojin was left defenseless as Voyager's Rider Kick smashed his head, sending the kaijin flailing backwards and into the ground. Voyager landed gracefully in front of everyone as the Mole Maojin exploded behind him, the Rider snapping his fingers in delight.

 **(BGM ends)**

"Now that's what I call…the perfect finish," Voyager commented to the applause of everyone there.

The smoke and fire from the Mole Maojin's destruction quickly died out, leaving behind an unconscious Le Quynh Huong and the Mole Maojin's Maojin Card.

"So, Le Quynh Huong was the Mole Maojin all along…" Steffi muttered, "Should've known. The Mole Man cases did start to appear after she vanished and she was nowhere around this area…so the number one possibility about her whereabouts was the cryptid using her body…"

Slowly Voyager picked up both Quynh Huong and the Maojin Card, before heading over towards Hako, handing Quynh Huong to the policewoman.

"Take her to the hospital," Voyager told Hako, which the policewoman obliged immediately.

As Hako left with the unconscious but otherwise unharmed Quynh Huong, Voyager was suddenly pulled into an embrace by Steffi, with Kim and Vy following suit. Feeling touched, Voyager returned the gesture and hugged the trio.

"Thanks girls," Voyager said after they had released their hug, "Where are the Maojin's victims?"

"We've managed to take them to safety," Steffi replied, "I've already called my brother on my way here, so I think he had already taken care of them."

"That's a relief," Voyager smiled underneath his helmet, "Thanks girls. I couldn't have done this without you girls."

"Hey, that's what partners are for, right?" Steffi winked, fist-bumping Voyager.

"I think I'm gonna like working together with you girls," Voyager chuckled, taking out the newly acquired Maojin Card, "And another one for collection."

The front side of the card depicted an image of a mole poking its head out of the ground, while the back side of the card, like all Maojin Cards, was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **9** superimposed on a pile of coins engraved on it. The left hand side of the card has a yellow line running through it, the words " **TECTONIC MOLE** " emblazoned in black on the line. On the card's top left corner was a small icon that resembled a pile of sand or dirt.

But just as Steffi, Kim, and Vy were about to examine the card in Voyager's hands…

 ***BANG* *BANG* *BANG***

Three blue energy blasts struck Voyager's wrists, causing him to drop the card and stumble back in shock much to the surprise of Steffi, Kim, and Vy. The Tectonic Mole Maojin Card suddenly floated in mid-air just as it was about to touch the ground, slowly rising up and flying towards the direction of the energy blasts much to the shock of everyone.

"Who's there!" Voyager called out, "Show yourself! How dare you take my Maojin Card and get away with it!"

 **(Cue BGM: Agul Advent – Toshihiko Sahashi from the Ultraman Gaia OST)**

Stepping out of the shadows was another armored warrior, the armor that the warrior sported looking somewhat identical to Voyager's. Wearing a black bodysuit just like Voyager, the warrior was covered in navy blue armor that cover its shoulders, gauntlets, torso, and greaves. The armor had golden linings, highlighting, and trims, while the shoulder armors were designed after the waves of the ocean. The torso armor rest between the warrior's waist and the navy blue circular insignia on the warrior's chest, that has a manta ray's head sticking out from its right side. Much to Voyager and everyone else's surprise, on the warrior's waist was a ScanDriver, with a blue tab compared to Voyager's red, the translucent screen on the Driver glowing blue with a white image of a manta ray on it. Navy blue lines adorn the warrior's arms, thighs, legs, and the sides of its torso, but unlike Voyager's straight lines, the lines on this warrior's bodysuit were wavy in design.

The warrior's navy blue helmet was designed after a manta ray's body, with its "head," colored silver between its "fins," acting as the helmet's mouthpiece. The manta ray's curved "wings" acted as the helmet's headdress, while silver tribal lines adorn the forehead region of the helmet, just above the helmet's single glowing ellipse-shaped yellow monoeye visor. The manta ray's tail acted as the helmet's ponytail of some sorts, braided in design with a whip-like tip on the end.

The warrior's most striking feature, however, were its gauntlets. While its left gauntlet was normal in design, the right gauntlet of the warrior was slightly enlarged with a trilobite-like device attached to it, colored navy blue with a white, ribcage-like design, orange spots on the trilobite's "eyes," and what seems to be a card slot on the rear end of the device.

On the warrior's left hand was the Tectonic Mole Maojin Card, while on its right hand was a royal blue biopunk-looking shotgun with what seems to be a pistol shrimp resting over it, the shrimp's claws lined up between the shotgun's muzzle, while a silver dial was present on the rear end of the weapon.

"Who's that guy?" Steffi asked.

"No…" Voyager gasped as he slowly regained his footing, "It can't be…"

"What are you talking about?" Kim asked.

"I know this guy…" Voyager replied, "He's what you call a Kamen Rider as well, just like me, an armored warrior fighting against the Maojins. And his name is…"

"…Mariner," the warrior replied with a female voice, which strangely sounded like Minh's, "Kamen Rider Mariner huh? If that's what the people call you nowadays, guess I'll take it. It sounds better than just Mariner, to be honest."

"Wait, why on Earth are you a woman?" Voyager asked, "Did something happened to Eric?"

"You…" Mariner growled, tightening her grip on her shotgun before aiming it at Voyager in an accusing manner, much to the shock and horror of Steffi, Kim, and Vy, "…you dare to speak of his name…even after you've betrayed him and killed him?!"

"What?!" Voyager gawked in disbelief, "You mean…you mean…"

"Eric is dead, Voyager!" Mariner exclaimed in anguish, "Because _**YOU**_ killed him!"

Steffi, Kim, and Vy gasped in unison, while Voyager remained silent in utter shock and disbelief.

"He trusted you, Voyager!" Mariner cried once again, "And this is how you repay his trust?! By striking him down when he least suspect?!"

An air of tension descended upon the area, with Mariner still aiming her shotgun at Voyager, Voyager still in disbelief over Mariner's words, and Steffi, Kim, and Vy having no clue whatsoever on what's going on.

Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, Mariner put down her shotgun, turning around with her back facing the group.

"I'll let you off now…" Mariner said, "I can see that battling the Mole Maojin had taken a lot from you…and fighting a weakened opponent is never an honorable option. However…I'll be taking this Maojin Card…and the next time we'll meet…I'll settle this once and for all."

And with that Mariner suddenly turned around once again, firing her shotgun at the ground that created a thick cloud of dust that blanketed the entire area and caused everyone to break into fits of coughing. Once the cloud of dust had cleared away, Mariner was nowhere to be seen.

 **(BGM ends)**

"Krishna…" Steffi coughed away the last of the dust in her lungs, "Can you tell us what's going on? What's up with that Mariner person? Why did she suddenly came out of the blue and accuse you of murdering someone?!"

Voyager, stunned and speechless, could only say this as a reply, "To be honest…I have no idea…"

 **xxx**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **xxx**

 **Next time, on Kamen Rider Voyager, episode 5 – Mariner, The Vengeful Rider of the Deep**

The newest Maojin to attack humanity, the Swallowtail Maojin, has orchestrated a series of attacks on Lotus Industries-related facilities. As usual, it is up to Voyager to put an end to the Maojin's rampage, but with a vengeful Kamen Rider Mariner to contend with, Krishna must choose between stopping the Swallowtail Maojin or finding the answers behind Mariner's grudge towards him! And with the Swallowtail Maojin targeting Ngan's school trip to a Lotus Industries factory, the stakes have been raised like never before. The clash between Riders is drawing near, who will emerge on top?

 **xxx**

 **Maojin Card of the Day**

 **Inferno Komodo**

 **Class:** Ace of Swords

 **Tribe:** Fire

 **Properties:** Transforms Voyager into his Inferno Form, which trades speed and agility for strength, raw power, and increased defenses. Themed after Indonesia's very own Komodo dragon, Voyager is a walking fortress in this form, with most attacks bouncing off him harmlessly. His attacking power is also increased in this form, capable of executing devastating blows with his fists. In this form, Voyager is also capable of pyrokinesis, charging his fists with fire and performing fire-based attacks. However, using this form would overheat Voyager considerably, hence the occasional release of steam from the armor's joints that the Rider could use as an impromptu offensive option.

 **Maojin of the Day**

 **Mole Maojin**

 **Class:** Nine of Coins

 **Tribe:** Earth

 **Motif:** Mole

 **Host:** Le Quynh Huong

 **Abilities:** burrowing at high speeds, performing dash attacks with his drill nose, and large claws that are used for slashing and bashing. Being an Earth Tribe Maojin, he also has considerable durability, being able to withstand Overcharges attacks for a while before eventually giving in.

 **Destroyed by:** Kamen Rider Voyager Hurricane Form's Hurricane Smash (x3)

 **xxx**

 **A/N: And we're done! The fourth chapter of** _ **Voyager**_ **all wrapped up. I hope you guys enjoyed it! And I apologize beforehand if the story's not that good – it's kinda hard to write these kinds of things when you have exams and assignments and your part-time job in the way, not to mention** _ **Football Manager 17**_ **lol. However, with the summer break coming, I'll have all the time that I need to continue with** _ **Voyager**_ **and (hopefully) deliver more chapters to you!**

 **As usual, leave your reviews but no flames, please! Flamers will have their reviews deleted by me so yeah, don't bother lol. And don't forget to follow and favorite this story!**

 **This is maxpower02, signing out!**


	5. Mariner, the Vengeful Rider of the Deep

**A/N: Hey guys, it's maxpower02 here with the newest chapter of** _ **Kamen Rider Voyager**_ **! I have no noteworthy news of note, other than my part-time job's killing me and my final year of university will start soon. However, if I can keep my juices going, I believe I can finish this story with no continues!**

 **Right, on to chapter 5, and we will witness the proper debut of our secondary Rider! Brace yourselves, this is going to be an emotional roller-coaster.**

 **Disclaimers!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, TOEI does.**

 **xxx**

 **Previously, on Kamen Rider Voyager**

 _At Leo's advice, Krishna and Karin moved into Steffi's apartment, before Steffi and her friends decided to show Krishna and Karin around the city the next day. Along the way, they encountered the Mole Maojin, who had been responsible for a series of disappearances where people were pulled underground, a case that the SIG has been investigating for a while. Krishna, not wanting to risk the safety of Steffi and her friends, decided to search for the Mole Maojin's victims by himself._

 _However, Steffi, Kim, and Vy decided to follow Krishna and Karin underground against the former's wishes and affirm to him that he doesn't have to worry about them and together they will resolve the Maojin crisis. Krishna and the SIG worked together in foiling the Mole Maojin's plot, with the former using his new Hurricane Form, granted to him by the Ace of Wands Maojin Card to defeat the Maojin once and for all with support from the returning MCU lieutenant Hako, and the latter rescuing the people who were captured by the Mole Maojin._

 _Meanwhile, in the sidelines, Star has been concocting a plan to eliminate Voyager once and for all, while a mysterious black and blue warrior named Mariner has made herself known to Voyager and his friends, accusing Voyager of murdering someone important to both her and Krishna…_

 **xxx**

 _ **Dong Tam Industrial Park**_

That fine Saturday morning, a black Toyota Corolla pulled itself into a stop next to a factory in the Dong Tam Industrial Park, located just outside Ho Chi Minh City in the neighboring province of Long An, still within the city's greater metropolitan area. Stepping out of the car was a sharply-dressed Indonesian man, aged around his late twenties and sporting both a slick haircut and a pair of sunglasses on his face that complimented his grey suit and trousers combination perfectly. The man stood in front of the factory, his eyes scanning for any special characteristics from the building in front of him. And seconds afterwards, he had found it.

The Lotus Industries logo, emblazoned on a sign perched on top of the building.

"Perfect," the man spoke to no-one, a malicious grin forming on his face.

 **xxx**

Fifteen minutes later, the man found himself sitting inside the factory's security office, having being asked to be escorted there by the first security guard that he saw. Requesting to meet the factory's head of security, the man was asked to wait inside the security office whilst the security guard fetched his superior to meet the man.

The office's door flew open and a middle-aged Vietnamese man stepped inside, a gruff look on his face. The Vietnamese man immediately sat in front of the Indonesian, the two men exchanging handshakes.

"Pleasure to meet you, Sir. My name is Axeleander Juvilius Teguh," the Indonesian man introduced himself, "Just call me Axel. Thank you for giving your time in your busy schedule for me."

"Nguyen Phuong Nam, head of security of the Lotus Industries Dong Tam Computers Assembly Plant," the Vietnamese man replied, "Please, call me Alan. The pleasure's mine, Mr. Axel. What business that you have that required you to meet me?"

"I'm here representing my security camera firm, SecureGuard Cameras," Axel replied, "I heard that last night someone broke into this facility and disabled all the security cameras here…?"

A look of surprise suddenly made itself known on Alan's face, "How…how did you know that?!"

True to Alan's words, the security cameras at the factory were all disabled since this morning, either by internal short-circuiting or by the cameras being forcefully pried off their respective perches. The security guards at the factory were left baffled by this, and were discussing on how to repair them when Axel came.

"Let's just say," Axel said, a malicious grin on his face, "My gut told me that. So, why don't you show me around the factory so that I could help you guys replace them with new ones from my firm?"

 **xxx**

 _ **Twenty minutes later**_

A huge explosion rocked the entire factory building, followed by a beeline of panicking workers fleeing the now burning factory.

Inside the factory, the bodies of Alan and the building's security guards were scattered on the floor, they were all killed with a single stab wound to the chest while burns were present on their bodies. Standing among the scattered dead bodies was a monstrous creature, humanoid in shape and lanky in build but with insectoid features. Colored black except for a colorful mix of purple, red, and milky white on the pair of wings that sprouted out from the creature's back, the creature had a swallowtail butterfly motif to it, as evident by the elegant-looking wings of the creature that resembled that of a swallowtail's.

The creature's head resembled that of helmets worn by fighter jet pilots, colored black like the rest of the creature's body except for a pair of huge purple compound eyes and a white, trunk-like proboscis. The creature's feet were pointed in design, somewhat resembling Arabian slippers, while a pair of purple, ornate-looking daggers were present on the creature's hands, the weapons' thin silver blades were soaked in the blood of the creature's victims. Last but not least was the familiar golden belt with the purple loincloth on the creature's waist, confirming its identity as a Maojin.

The Swallowtail Maojin lets out a loud screech as it flew out of the burning factory, hovering above it as its huge eyes scanned the ground for any signs of the factory's fleeing workers. Within seconds the Maojin had spotted its target, or _targets_ to be specific, as its eyes detected two workers hobbling their way out of their doomed workplace.

"Bingo…" the Swallowtail Maojin muttered in a male voice, if he had a proper mouth, he would have smiled in delight right now.

Immediately the Swallowtail Maojin swooped down towards his targets, the two workers in question looking up to the sky a minute too late to see their doom heading straight towards them. The Swallowtail Maojin brandished his daggers, ready to end the lives of the two workers right here right now…

…only for a heavy object to suddenly came out of nowhere and smacked the Swallowtail Maojin out of the sky.

As the two workers breathed out sighs of relief, a red Mitsubishi Pajero pulled itself to a stop near them, having swatted the Swallowtail Maojin away on its arrival.

"That got him!" Minh exclaimed excitedly from the Pajero's passenger seat, "Glad to see you using your driving skills to good use, Thao."

"Don't mention it," Thao chuckled from behind the Pajero's wheel, "For me that was nothing. Now, I'll leave the rest to you."

Minh nodded, grabbing her ScanDriver and Marine Manta card from the car's glove compartment, before she stepped out of the Pajero much to the awe of the two workers nearby.

"You guys alright?" Minh asked the two workers, who were still awestruck at their boss saving their lives in front of their eyes.

"Ah, we're good," one of the workers replied, snapping himself back to reality long enough to say that.

"Good, now get yourselves to safety," Minh told the two workers, which they obliged immediately.

Suddenly a loud rustle was heard as the Swallowtail Maojin emerged out from a nearby pile of scrap metal. The kaijin was unhurt from the Pajero crashing into him, but that was more than enough to enrage him.

"You!" the Swallowtail Maojin growled, pointing at Minh accusingly, "Did you do that?!"

"So, you're the one who has been sabotaging my factories for the past week, huh?" Minh asked back, completely brushing off the Swallowtail Maojin's question, "Hmph, looks like I'm going to have to do some pest control again."

And with that Minh placed her ScanDriver on her waist, causing its straps to secure the device on place. She then opened the device's tab, prompting a computerized male voice, similar to that of Krishna's ScanDriver, to exclaim,

 **READY!**

"That device!" the Swallowtail Maojin gawked in surprise, "Are you…Voyager?!"

"Voyager? Don't _**ever**_ compare me with that man," Minh replied, her tone calm yet dark, menacing, and threatening.

"If you're not Voyager…that means you're…"

" **Henshin,** " Minh calmly said, placing the Marine Manta card into her ScanDriver and slamming the device's tab shut.

 **ACE HENSHIN! MARINE MANTA!**

Industrial metal began to play out from Minh's ScanDriver as it unleashed a blue ring of energy, splitting into two as they scanned Minh from head to toe, covering her in a black bodysuit that resembled Voyager's, only with a glowing yellow monoeye visor instead of Voyager's two glowing yellow eyes. Blue grid lines began to materialize around the bodysuit, forming armor pieces that configured themselves onto the bodysuit, before more of the blue grid lines appeared around the bodysuit's head, forming the helmet. Once the armor and helmet had finished forming, the bodysuit's visor flashed three times as navy blue lines began to appear on the bodysuit's arms, legs, thighs, legs, and the sides of the torso, completing Minh's transformation into Kamen Rider Mariner.

"You!" the Swallowtail Maojin growled, clenching his daggers tightly as he recognized the figure in front of him, "You're the one who defeated the Firefly! You're the one they call Mariner!"

"Let's do this," Mariner said, cracking her fists slowly as the Swallowtail Maojin charged at her, his daggers ready to inflict damage on her armor…

 **xxx**

 _ **KAMEN RIDER VOYAGER**_

 **Episode 5: Mariner, The Vengeful Rider of the Deep**

 **OP: Eiyuu no Uta – THE ALFEE**

 **xxx**

 **(Cue BGM: Agul Attack – Toshihiko Sahashi from the Ultraman Gaia OST)**

Mariner kicked the Swallowtail Maojin several times on the chest, delivering each kick with both grace and power. The two combatants had been fighting for the past five minutes and despite the Swallowtail Maojin's best efforts in hand-to-hand combat, Mariner's kicking expertise had overwhelmed him.

"Damn it!" the Swallowtail Maojin cursed, clutching his chest in pain, "Looks like I'm gonna have to do this then!"

The Swallowtail Maojin took off to the skies, stretching his arms apart as purple glitter began to fall out from his wings. The glitter flew towards Mariner, latching onto her armor before sending a series of electric shocks throughout her body. Groaning in pain, Mariner was left stunned for a few minutes as purple electricity surged through her body, allowing the Swallowtail Maojin to deliver a pair of purple bolts of electricity from his fingers, the bolts striking Mariner right on her torso. Sparks flew as Mariner was brought down to her knees by the attack, much to the delight of the Swallowtail Maojin.

"Hah!" the Swallowtail Maojin exclaimed mockingly, "Is that what you've got?"

Mariner slowly stood up, writhing in pain slightly yet her determination remained undeterred. Slowly Mariner reached for the card holder on the back of her waist, taking out a Maojin Card from it. The card had an image of a pistol shrimp ambushing a fish in its coral reef home with a blue horizontal line on its left hand side, the words " **HYDRO ALPHEID** " emblazoned on said line in white. The back of the card was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **9** superimposed on a cup engraved on it. Chuckling underneath her helmet, Mariner quickly inserted the card into the slot on her left hip.

 **NINE EQUIP! HYDRO ALPHEID!**

The royal blue biopunk-looking pistol shrimp-themed shotgun materialized itself in front of Mariner, which the Rider immediately grabbed with her right hand. Wasting no time, Mariner aimed the shotgun at the flying Swallowtail Maojin, before firing off a few shots from it. The Swallowtail Maojin easily flew around the first few blue energy blasts, but soon a trifecta of blasts struck the Swallowtail Maojin on his head, chest, and groin, sending him crashing out of the sky.

"My Hydro Gunner shall reunite you with your friend," Mariner said, taking out an Overcharge Card as she slowly approached the downed Swallowtail Maojin, "The finisher."

 **(BGM ends)**

But before Mariner could insert her Overcharge Card, a black energy slash appeared out of nowhere and struck the ground between Mariner and the Swallowtail Maojin, creating a huge cloud of dust that startled the two combatants. As the dust settled away and both Mariner and the Swallowtail Maojin had coughed out the dust that they had inhaled, much to their surprise, they saw Star walking slowly towards them. Immediately the Swallowtail Maojin bowed respectfully at the presence of the Arcana Maojin, with Mariner following suit afterwards.

"At ease, both of you," Star said, which the two quickly obliged, "Now, explain yourselves."

"This Maojin had attacked several of my factories in the past week," Mariner said, "Must be a follow-up to when the Firefly Maojin sabotaged my company's smelting plant at Binh Duong Province a while ago."

"I was just following orders from my Arcanas!" the Swallowtail Maojin talked back.

Immediately Mariner pointed the Hydro Gunner at the Swallowtail Maoiin, prompting Star to brandish his Destruction Blade and pointed it at Mariner's neck.

"Don't do anything reckless, Le Thao Minh," Star told Mariner, "Remember our deal."

Sighing in defeat as she remembered the agreement that she had with Star, Mariner slowly lowered her weapon, with Star doing the same thing as he lets out an evil chuckle.

"Good girl," Star said, pleased at Mariner's obedience towards him.

"What are you doing here, Star of the Darkness Tribe?" the Swallowtail Maojin asked.

"I'm here to inform you two of a plan that I have," Star replied, "And it will involve both Mariner and you heavily, Three of Shields."

"And what plan is that?" Mariner asked, "And why do I have to work with a Maojin?!"

"And why should I work alongside someone who had threatened our kind's existence?!" added the Swallowtail Maojin.

Star lets out a calm chuckle in response, "I know that things between you two are not that…amicable, but I'm pretty sure that you two have the same thing in common."

"And that is?" the Swallowtail Maojin asked.

"It's simple. You two share a common hatred…for the one they call Voyager."

Upon hearing that, Mariner clenched her left fist tightly, while her right hand tightened her grip on her Hydro Gunner.

"What do you mean she hated Voyager?!" the Swallowtail Maojin asked out in surprise, "Last time I checked, you two were in the same side!"

"That good for nothing bastard killed my father," Mariner replied bitterly, "Remember when I told you to never compare me with him? That's why."

"In case you don't know, the power of Mariner has changed hands," Star added, "And the new Mariner…she has revoked her predecessor's partnership with Voyager, bearing a deep hatred towards him ever since he killed her father."

The Swallowtail Maojin nodded in understanding, "I see. Times has indeed changed...so Mariner's now underneath your wing, huh?"

Star lets out a devilish smirk at that question, "You can say that. Now, enough chit-chat. I will tell you two about my plan…a plan that will surely end Voyager…once and for all."

Mariner took out her Marine Manta card from her ScanDriver, causing her entire armor to disappear into motes of blue light. An interested Minh stood in her place, clearly all ears in whatever Star's going to tell them.

"I'm listening," Minh said.

The Swallowtail Maojin's body glowed purple as he reverted into his human host, Axel. Dusting off the sparks of purple electricity from his body, Axel adjusted his suit, tie, and glasses, before letting out an interested smirk.

"I'm all ears," Axel said.

 **xxx**

 _ **The next day**_

It has been a week since Krishna moved into Steffi's apartment and it has been a week as well that Steffi and her friends had got him accustomed with daily life in Ho Chi Minh City. They had showed Krishna around their neighborhood, took him to the local market where they usually bought their daily necessities, introduced him to the multitude of convenience stores scattered across their neighborhood, and last but not least, got Krishna up to speed with the local public transport system, just in case Krishna or Karin were unable to use the former's motorcycle to get around and at the same time Steffi and her friends were using the gang's car.

And with Kim taking Krishna's motorcycle for a routine checkup at the nearest Suzuki service center (something that Krishna should have done at least twice a year, much to his surprise) while at the same time Steffi and Vy were away to the bank to pay the monthly bills, Krishna was left with no option but to take the city's newly opened metro line to get to the local market for the day's grocery shopping. Since Karin was accompanying Kim to the service center, this was the first time in a while that Krishna's going out and about by himself.

Krishna had to admit that Steffi's apartment was quite strategically located – smack dab at the fringes of District 1, aka the city's central most district, one can easily go to anywhere in Ho Chi Minh City from there. The nearest metro station from Steffi's apartment was the Ba Son Metro Station, a short 5-minute walk from the apartment, which serves Line 1 of the city's metro system, linking the iconic Ben Thanh Market in the city center with the famous Suoi Tien Water Park in District 9. Steffi told Krishna that the station was opened in 2020 to much fanfare, meaning that it was still relatively new.

As he stepped into the underground entrance of the station, Krishna's thoughts reflected on what had happened in the past week since the Mole Maojin's defeat as well as the encounter with the mysterious Kamen Rider Mariner. There hasn't been any notable Maojin cases that the SIG had picked up ever since that day, with Voyager fighting and defeating only two Maojins during that period. The Hummingbird Maojin was responsible for a series of aerial divebomb attacks in District 6 and he was no match for Voyager's Hurricane Form, while the Chlamydosaurus Maojin (a Maojin based on the Australian frill-necked lizard) was responsible for a series of fires in the Cho Lon District, but Voyager's Inferno Form managed to put an end to the creature's rampage. With the Five of Wands and Seven of Swords safely in Krishna's possession, the young man was quite surprised that Mariner didn't show up to steal his cards again.

" _But then again, there was this one case that the girls insisted me on helping with…_ " Krishna thought to himself as he bought his metro ticket and inserted it into the ticket gate.

The case was a string of mysterious attacks targeting factories owned by Lotus Industries across the Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Area. The attacks followed the same pattern – the security cameras at the factories would be disabled first overnight, before an all-out massacre on the factories' security personnel and workers the following morning, both done by a Maojin based on eyewitness accounts. Steffi had been bugging Krishna to help her and her gang in investigating the case, but the young man's response has always been the same.

"Leave it to Leo and the guys at the MCU."

"But why?"

Krishna sighed as he remembered the conversation, leaning himself against the platform wall. His train was still five minutes away, giving Krishna enough time to immerse himself even deeper in his thoughts.

While Krishna didn't specify why he had refused to help the SIG with the Lotus Industries attacks, he had a very good reason on why he turned down their request.

Lotus Industries was Eric's old company.

And because of that, Krishna felt that it was the best for him to take some time off to himself, in order for him to fully understand what had happened.

" _Eric…what did you do to deserve this?_ " Krishna wondered as his train rolled into view, stopping picture perfectly next to the platform.

A beeline of commuters made their way into the train cars, with Krishna among them. Being the morning train that departed from the city center, not too many people were inside the train, but that would be a different story once it had stopped in enough stations.

Settling onto his seat, Krishna slowly made himself comfortable there, before he once again drowned himself in his thoughts…

 **xxx**

His name was Le Ngoc Duy, but people usually call him Eric. The last time Krishna saw him was five years ago, when he last visited Vietnam. He was in his early 40s the last time Krishna saw him, but his youthful looks and physiques made people often mistake his age to be around 29. Coming from a family with a strong military background that has fought in the Vietnam War, it was to no surprise that Eric decided to join in the family business by founding Lotus Industries, seeing that Vietnam needed a serious boost in both the security front and the technological front so that the nation contend with the other nations in both the Southeast Asian region and the world. As one of the top graduates of Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and combined with his military background, designing innovative new weapons for both the People's Army of Vietnam and Vietnam People's Public Security (the country's police force) was not a problem for Eric, and the company soon blossomed, having rose into prominence the last time Krishna saw him.

However, despite all his successes, Eric has one secret that he had tried his best in keeping during his lifetime.

He was also a Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider Mariner.

Eric's distant ancestor was one of the original users of the ScanDriver and had fought alongside Krishna during the era of the Majapahit Empire, which at the time included the Malay Peninsula. By the time Krishna left Majapahit in order to continue his fight against the Maojins that had spread their influence around the world, the great empire had fallen and Eric's ancestor moved from present day Kelantan in Malaysia (a vassal state underneath Majapahit in the Malay Peninsula) to Southern Vietnam, settling in an area located 85 kilometers away from present day Ho Chi Minh City in the Mekong Delta, which will be known as the present day city of Ben Tre. The story of Mariner had become a folk legend in the area, with descendants of Eric's ancestor donning the black and blue armor and keeping the people of Southern Vietnam safe from any otherworldly threats, however as time went by and people had started to leave their old, superstitious way of thinking, Mariner's story slowly become forgotten, disappearing into time itself.

Six years ago Krishna went to the south of Vietnam, investigating any signs of the Maojins there while at the same time pursuing a type of kaijin that has been rampaging throughout Asia at the time – mysterious creatures calling themselves "Dark Holes." Guided by an organization that specializes in fighting the Dark Holes, Krishna met Eric for the first time, the two striking up a quick partnership.

During the Dark Hole conflict of 2017, Krishna stayed at Eric's mansion in Ben Tre, staying there for the entire year. There Krishna got acquainted with Eric's oldest daughter, Le Thao Minh, who at the time was still attending middle school. Unfortunately, Krishna didn't get to meet Minh's sister, Le Hoai Kim Ngan, or Eric's wife, since the two of them were at Karlsruhe in Germany, having being told to stay there by Eric out of the fear for their safety.

In the year 2018, the Dark Hole conflict had ended with the creatures being driven out of the south of Vietnam, and Krishna must continue with his journey to track down the Maojins. Entrusting the safety of Ben Tre and the south of Vietnam to Eric, Krishna left to continue his adventures, occasionally communicating with Eric via mail. The two men kept contacting each other, such as when Eric and his family moved from Ben Tre to Ho Chi Minh City about a year after Krishna left and also when Eric's wife tragically passed away in a plane crash in 2020, with Krishna acting as the family's moral support. With the responsible of not only looking after his company and doing his Rider duties but also taking care of both Minh and Ngan, Eric's final mail to Krishna told the latter that he would not be able to message him as frequently as usual and that Eric hope that Krishna would understand.

Krishna did understand…however nothing prepared him for Eric's untimely demise…

 **xxx**

" _The train is now stopping at Van Thanh Metro Station. Please check your belongings before you exit the train. Thank you._ "

The train's soothing announcement slowly brought Krishna back to reality. Knowing that Van Thanh Metro Station was his stop, Krishna quickly alighted the train, making his way down the elevated station back to ground-level. However, as his mind was still adjusting itself back into place, Krishna was not alert enough to avoid a young man coming towards him.

"Watch out!"

But it was too late.

 ***CRASH***

Several sheets of paper were sent flying as the young man carrying them collided with the daydreaming Krishna, the collision sending the two men to their knees. As Krishna groggily shook his head, trying to comprehend what had just happened to him, the young man that he ran into looked around in dismay, sighing as he collected the sheets of paper around him.

"Next time watch where you're going, man!" the young man scolded as he picked up his papers, "Use your eyes!"

"Sorry," Krishna replied rather uneasily, clearly guilty on what had just happened, "My mistake. I had a lot of things going on in my mind…"

"Well me too! I just got my newest short story rejected by the sixth newspaper that I've sent my story to! Please…"

"A good friend of mine died."

The harshness on the man's eyes disappeared instantly, being replaced with that of sympathy. The 20-year old man quickly stacked his papers neatly, before coming to Krishna's side, placing a hand against the latter's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for your loss," the man told Krishna, "Clearly mine is nothing compared to yours…"

"Thanks," Krishna smiled slightly, "That really means a lot, you know."

As the man helped Krishna back to his feet, the latter couldn't help to notice about the man's appearance. Wearing a black tuxedo with matching boots and a red tie that matches his fair skin tone, the man's short black hair was neatly slicked to one side, while a pair of rounded glasses rested over his black eyes.

At a first glance, the man literally looked like that he had just stepped out of a boardroom meeting!

"Nice getup," Krishna commented.

"Thanks," the man chuckled slightly as he picked up his stack of papers, "Like I said, I just came back from a newspaper office. Do you know Tuoi Tre?"

"Ah, sorry, I'm new here, so I haven't heard about that yet."

"It's one of the biggest newspaper company here in Vietnam," the man explained, "And right now they're publishing short stories from aspiring writers who wanted to make it big in the literary scene! Sadly, I wasn't one of them…"

"I'm sorry to hear that…"

"It's okay. It's only the sixth time that I got rejected…I've submitted my story to all the big newspapers and publishers here, and so far, six of them have rejected my story. I'm now heading back to my university."

Krishna blinked, "But it's Sunday!"

"I'm meeting a friend there for coffee."

"I see," Krishna nodded, "By the way, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Can I bring your short story with me? I want to give it a read."

"Really?!" the man's face beamed with happiness, before he quickly regained his composure, "I mean, of course. It's not every day that someone actually wanted to read my stories."

"I've read a lot throughout my life," Krishna told the man, "And I wanted to see whether your talents have been wasted by those who has rejected you. Don't worry. You'll get my full support."

"Thank you," the man smiled, handing his stack of papers to Krishna, "Just take all of them. I still have digital copies of them on my computer, so I'll just print a new batch for the next publisher that I'm going to submit these to."

"Nice," Krishna said as he accepted the stack of papers, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Nguyen Van Duc Manh at your service," the man bowed politely in front of Krishna before handing the young man his name card, "Please, call me Rei. And how about you?"

"Call me Krishna," Krishna introduced himself, pocketing the name card he'd received from Rei, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'll be going now, otherwise I'm going to be late for my appointment."

"See you!" Krishna waved goodbye as Rei ran up towards the train platforms, disappearing from his sight within seconds.

 **xxx**

 _ **Van Thanh Market**_

"Good morning! Oh, it's you, Krishna. Where's Steffi?"

Vu Hong Hanh was a diminutive and tomboyish-looking 35-year old woman who worked as a greengrocer at Binh Thanh District's Van Thanh Market, located a stone's throw away from the Van Thanh Metro Station. Shane, as she was called by the community, was Steffi's regular greengrocer and she knew the young woman quite well.

"Morning Shane," Krishna replied the greeting, a rather awkward smile on his face, "Steffi's away to pay the bills, so she sent me here."

"Ah, first time coming here by yourself, eh? Did Steffi ask you to bring a list of things that she wanted to buy?"

Krishna immediately dug into his jacket pocket, taking out a piece of folded green paper and handing it over to Shane. The greengrocer opened the paper, gave it a thorough look, before letting out a warm smile.

"Right. I'll get you everything that you need in five minutes."

As Shane prepared the groceries, Krishna was left all by himself, humming a tune to himself as he took out the first page of the stack of paper that Rei had given to him.

" _The Chronicles of Maximilian Titan_ ," Krishna silently read the title on the paper, " _Part One: Framed_. _The year was 3017, mankind has finally reached space. Maximilian Titan was a police officer working at the Intergalactic Police Force until he was being framed for the murder of a famous politician. Working alongside the politician's daughter, Max must fight to clear his name from any wrongdoing…_ "

As Krishna was busy reading through the story's synopsis, a hand poked Krishna on the shoulder, startling him to the point of almost dropping the paper in his hands. Swiftly grabbing the paper in mid-air, Krishna turned around quickly to see Ngan smiling mischievously behind him.

"You!"

 **xxx**

 _ **Five minutes later**_

With his groceries all packed and paid for, Krishna accompanied Ngan as she bought ice cream at a nearby stand, with the teen also buying one for Krishna. The two then sat on a bench near the ice cream stand, enjoying their sweet treats.

"Doing your morning shopping huh?" Krishna asked as he licked his ice cream.

"Yeah!" Ngan nodded excitedly, "We're buying some supplies for my school trip tomorrow."

"Sounds awesome. Where are you guys going?"

"We're going to the Saigon Hi-Tech Park to observe the companies there," Ngan replied, "It's for our Economics class. We're going to study how these companies influence the boost of economy in present day Vietnam!"

"Ah, Economics was never my strongest subject," Krishna chuckled, "But that does sound like a fun trip!"

"My sister's helping with funding and arranging for the trip by the way, as her company was one of the companies that we're going to visit. Ah, speaking of which, there she is!"

Looking up, Krishna's eyes went wide as he saw Minh standing in front of him, the young woman also looking surprised at Krishna's presence in front of her.

"You're…Le Thao Minh, right?" Krishna asked rather nervously.

Minh nodded, clearly as nervous as Krishna, "Y-yes. Are you…Krishna?"

As both Minh and Krishna looked at each other rather uneasily, Ngan blinked at the two of them in utter surprise, "You two knew each other?!"

 **xxx**

A few minutes later the trio had moved to the banks of Saigon River, where Ngan soon found herself occupied by a set of swings placed at a playground there. This allowed Krishna and Minh to have their private conversation by the river, leaning themselves against the iron fence that separates the walkway from the river's edge.

"I knew when I saw you the other day that you look awfully familiar to me," Krishna said, opening the conversation, "Man, you sure grew up fast…took me a while to recognize you!"

"Speak for yourself," Minh giggled, "You haven't changed at all in five years! Except for your hairstyle, that is. I remembered that you looked like some soldier the last time I saw you!"

"That look's way too old-fashioned for me," Krishna chuckled, "I've decided to adopt a look that's more…modern, so to speak."

"When did you came here?"

"A few weeks ago. Had a few errands that I had to do here and ended up staying here for a long-term basis…so yeah, I think we'll be seeing each other a lot."

"I see. Where are you staying? Maybe I should come over sometime."

"I'm staying with a friend of mine at District 1, near the former site of the Ba Son Shipyard. It's a really nice place, you should check it out."

Krishna then glanced at Ngan, who was still enjoying herself on the swings. Despite her age, Ngan looked like that she's really enjoying herself on it.

"So…your sister, huh?"

"Yes," Minh nodded, "She's a second-year student at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, my alma mater. Again, thank you for helping her the other day. I would be worried sick if she had lost her purse…"

"Nah, it's okay. Just being my helpful self, that all. To be honest that's the first time I've seen her."

"Yeah, she came from Karlsruhe two years after you left. At first, she was staying here for the summer vacation, but then Mom had to go back to Germany for some urgent business…and that happened."

Minh sighed somberly, remembering the time where she discovered the news of her mother's death.

"Ever since that day, Ngan had stayed with us. She attended both middle and high schools here, until…God…how can I say this…I think you've already heard about it, right? It was everywhere in the news."

"I did," Krishna nodded solemnly, acting as if he had known about Eric's death for a long time while in truth he has no knowledge about it until Mariner told him on that day in the sewers, "I'm sorry for your loss, Minh. Your father was an incredible man, his legacy will indeed last forever."

"Thanks," Minh nodded sadly, "They said that he died in a traffic accident…but I'm not that convinced. Something about his death to me feels…suspicious."

"Eh?" Krishna raised his eyebrows, apparently intrigued by what Minh had just told him.

"Ah, never mind," Minh quickly shook her head, "But one thing's for certain. Ever since that day, our lives have changed forever. I had to juggle both Lotus Industries and my university life, while I had to send Ngan away to a good friend of mine since I couldn't take care of her 24/7. I still got time to accompany Ngan in the weekends though, so she could still have some quality time with her family..."

Both Krishna and Minh looked at Ngan sadly, the teenager apparently still enjoying herself on the swings.

"Poor kid," Krishna said, "Having to spend her adolescence without both a mother and a father figure…must be tough for both you and her, huh?"

"It is," Minh nodded, "But at least things are looking rosy for the two of us. Ngan's doing her second-year studies quite fine despite everything that has happened, while as for me, the future of Lotus Industries has never looked better."

"You're just like your old man, you know that, right?" Krishna smiled.

"The apple never fell far from its tree," Minh replied, an optimistic smile on her face as well, "I've learned a lot from my father, you know? And after he's gone, I applied everything that he taught to me in taking care of my company. I'm still struggling to take care of Ngan though, but I'm lucky to have friends around me who are willing to give their hand to me."

"Ah, speaking about friends, how's Thao?"

"She's doing fine, thanks for asking. Always there for both me and Ngan."

"That's nice. You're lucky to have such a loyal person by your side."

"Thanks. I'll make sure to let Thao know that you said that…she would be really pleased to hear it."

"Man, I can't wait to see her again. It's been a while! Anyway, how's the mansion?"

"We're no longer living in that mansion anymore," Minh smiled, before she pointed at the LIT towering over them in the background, "We're now living there."

"Holy shit!" Krishna gawked upon seeing the LIT, "That's one huge tower!"

"My father had started building it during his passing, and I oversaw its completion," Minh said, clearly proud of her family's achievements, "Krishna, let me introduce you to the second tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City, the Lotus Industries Tower."

"Awesome. Can I visit you when I have the time?"

"We would be more than happy to welcome you to the LIT," Minh smiled warmly.

"Right. Thanks for the talk, but I need to go back. My friend would be worried sick that I haven't brought her groceries home yet! But before I go…"

Krishna slowly went over towards Minh, whispering something to her ear.

"Regarding your father…I promise that I'll get to the bottom of this. If what you've said about your father's death is true…I'll lend you my hand in helping you find out the truth about it. I'll make sure that I'll do my best in finding out what had actually happened to your father."

And with that Krishna was on his way, his groceries in one hand and Rei's story in another. As Krishna walked away, unknown to him Minh was shooting out a hateful glare at him, her breathing going up and down as her fists were clenched tightly, the young woman clearly struggling to control her emotions.

" _That sneaky bastard_ ," Minh growled in her thoughts, " _Why did he act like he cared about my family when he was the one who had killed my father in the first place! Typical…criminals always do their best in covering up their acts. I'm pretty sure that Krishna's doing that right now!_ "

" _Nee-chan_! _Nee-chan_! Are you alright?"

Minh's thoughts were suddenly thrown back to reality as she saw Ngan holding her hand, the teenager clearly looking concerned at her wellbeing. Realizing that, Minh quickly lets out a sheepish chuckle.

"Ah, Ngan. Sorry about that…some office work came to my mind. So, where shall we go next?"

 **xxx**

"I'm back!"

"Welcome back!" Steffi greeted back as Krishna stepped into the apartment, the young man immediately handing the bag of groceries to her, "Wow, they actually got everything in my list spot on. As expected from Shane."

"Where's Vy?" Krishna asked as he sat on the dining chair, placing the paper stack that Rei had given to him on the table while at the same time Steffi went towards the refrigerator, placing the groceries that Krishna had bought for her there.

"She's locked herself in her room again. Probably working on another invention."

Krishna took a glance at Vy's room and true to Steffi's words, the room's door has been slammed shut and a thin wisp of smoke can be seen coming out from underneath it, the words " **DANGER – DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT AUTORIZATION** " were emblazoned in red on the door.

"Sometimes I'm surprised that with all the things that she's doing in the room, she has never set off the apartment's fire alarms," Steffi added.

"Uh-huh," Krishna nodded, "And where's Kim and Karin?"

"Still at the service center, they won't be back until lunchtime."

"I see."

After she had finished sorting out the groceries, Steffi made two cups of warm milk coffee for both herself and Krishna. Serving the cup of coffee to Krishna, Steffi sat in front of the young man, sipping her own cup of coffee.

As he took a quick sip of his coffee, Krishna said, "I met an old friend today."

"Really?" came the reply from Steffi, the young woman stirring her cup of coffee.

"Really," Krishna affirmed, drinking his coffee once again, "It's the girl that we saw at District 5 the other day."

"District 5? The other day?" Steffi pondered, her mind trying to figure out what Krishna had told her, before suddenly she realized it, "You mean…Le Thao Minh?!"

Krishna nodded.

"Oh my God!" Steffi exclaimed in surprise, "You actually knew Le Thao Minh! _**The**_ Le Thao Minh! No wonder you spaced out after we met her the other day!"

"Heh, I haven't seen her in 5 years, that's why my memory needed some adjustment first," Krishna chuckled as he sipped his coffee again.

"You cannot believe how much I admired her!" Steffi exclaimed as she began her fangirling, "Becoming such a successful billionaire in such a young age but at the same time refusing to forget the humble roots from where she came from…to be honest I was really excited to hear her company's partnership with my brother's taskforce! Bro, I tell ya, she's an amazing role model for young women everywhere in this country! How did you know her?"

Krishna lets out a wry smile, "I was once close with her family…"

"Once close?" Steffi blinked, but then she realized it once she saw the sadness in Krishna's face, "Krishna…what happened?"

"I think it's time for me to reveal the reason why I turned down your requests to help you with the Lotus Industries case," Krishna replied, "Have you ever heard of Le Ngoc Duy?"

"I think I have heard of him," Steffi nodded, "He's the founder and the first chairman of Lotus Industries, right? They said that he was killed in a traffic accident just outside Ho Chi Minh City two years ago and his position in the company was succeeded by Minh soon after."

"Le Ngoc Duy was my close friend," Krishna sipped his coffee once again before continuing, "Remember when I mentioned Eric in the sewers a few days back?"

 **xxx**

" _Who's that guy?" Steffi asked._

" _No…" Voyager gasped as he slowly regained his footing, "It can't be…"_

" _What are you talking about?" Kim asked._

" _I know this guy…" Voyager replied, "He's what you call a Kamen Rider as well, just like me, an armored warrior fighting against the Maojins. And his name is…"_

"… _Mariner," the warrior replied with a female voice, which strangely sounded like Minh's, "Kamen Rider Mariner huh? If that's what the people call you nowadays, guess I'll take it. It sounds better than just Mariner, to be honest."_

" _Wait, why on Earth are you a woman?" Voyager asked, "Did something happened to Eric?"_

" _You…" Mariner growled, tightening her grip on her shotgun before aiming it at Voyager in an accusing manner, much to the shock and horror of Steffi, Kim, and Vy, "…you dare to speak of his name…even after you've betrayed him and killed him?!"_

" _What?!" Voyager gawked in disbelief, "You mean…you mean…"_

" _Eric is dead, Voyager!" Mariner exclaimed in anguish, "Because_ _ **YOU**_ _killed him!"_

 _Steffi, Kim, and Vy gasped in unison, while Voyager remained silent in utter shock and disbelief._

" _He trusted you, Voyager!" Mariner cried once again, "And this is how you repay his trust?! By striking him down when he least suspect?!"_

 **xxx**

"I think I remember," Steffi nodded, before she realized something, "Wait, does it mean…"

"Le Ngoc Duy's nickname is Eric," Krishna continued, "And he was the previous bearer of the Mariner title…and his death…wasn't accidental."

"Wait, hang on a second. You're saying that Le Ngoc Duy, the previous chairman of Lotus Industries, was a Kamen Rider like you?"

Krishna nodded.

"And you've met him before?"

"Yes. I've fought alongside him during one of my journeys. Remember the Dark Hole incidents that happened throughout the south of Vietnam between 2017 and 2018?"

"Of course! Those incidents are what made the traffic on the SIG website going up the roof for an entire year! Wait….you're saying…"

"I was involved in that incident, fighting off the Dark Holes with Eric and an organization that specializes in fighting them," Krishna told Steffi, "I didn't operate in Ho Chi Minh City though, but I did operate in the cities of Ben Tre, Can Tho, and My Tho in the Mekong Delta if memory serves me right."

"Ah, I see. But you said in the sewers that you had no idea on why this Mariner suddenly turned on you and accused you of killing Eric?"

"That's true. Which is why I don't want to involve myself in the Lotus Industries cases…I need time to comprehend everything," Krishna replied, "Eric and I used to send messages to each other a lot during my journeys, but after his wife died in 2020, he told me that he won't be messaging me frequently because he's busy with taking care of both Lotus Industries and his family. I thought that he was still occupied with his work when I came here…I did not expect him to have already passed away…"

Steffi went silent, nodding understandingly and solemnly as Krishna finished up his cup of coffee.

"I'm not a murderer, Steffi," Krishna said again, "I wasn't even in Vietnam two years ago…but I doubt the new Mariner would understand."

"So do you have any idea on who's the new Mariner is?" Steffi asked.

Krishna shook his head, "That I don't know. The ScanDrivers, despite their sheer power and importance, are objects that could be used by anyone. Just have a ScanDriver and a Maojin Card, and you can have a portion of the Maojins' powers in your fingertips. Should one of the Drivers fall into the wrong hands, things can be quite troublesome."

"I see. Why didn't they put a lock or something on those things?"

"At first we thought of that. But we also considered what if the user of that Driver doesn't have any descendants to inherit the Driver to? What if they get killed and no one else could use the Driver? That's why we've decided that as long as that person has a strong sense of justice and righteousness, he or she could freely use a ScanDriver and give the Driver to someone with the same criteria."

"Fair enough."

"The new Mariner could be anyone. There's even a possibility that the new Mariner could be the one who had killed Eric and ordered his death to be covered up as an accident. But we won't know until we investigate, right?"

"That's true. Speaking of investigation…what made you interested in the Lotus Industries cases all of a sudden?"

"I don't know if you've already known about this…but Le Thao Minh is Eric's daughter. His eldest daughter to be exact," Krishna told Steffi.

"Dude. It was all over the news when she was appointed. Of course I know that Le Thao Minh is Le Ngoc Duy's daughter," Steffi chuckled.

"Ah, makes my explanation easier. When I talked to Minh earlier…she told me that she felt there's something suspicious about Eric's death…and I kinda owe her one. I wasn't there when she lost Eric, so helping her in uncovering the truth about Eric's death would hopefully make up for it."

"That's sweet of you, Krishna."

"Like I said, Eric was a close friend of mine and I cared for both him and his family. Besides, if we investigate the Lotus Industries attacks, we might uncover what they had been covering up about Eric as well as uncover the identity of the new Mariner…since she's all hell bent in avenging Eric by targeting my head, I'm guessing that Eric had influenced her life somehow and knew about his connection with me. That's the beauty of investigating things...you get to find new things and connect them together, right?"

"Spoken like a true SIG member," Steffi chuckled, "I'll go fetch the Lotus Industries files."

Krishna gave Steffi the thumbs up as she headed towards her room, returning shortly with two large plastic folders. Setting aside the stack of papers given to Krishna by Rei, both Krishna and Steffi unloaded the folders' contents onto the table and started to read through them one by one.

 **xxx**

 _ **Later that evening**_

 _ **Go Vap District**_

A 20-year old young woman was seen planting flowers in the front garden of a minimalistic-looking house located in the border between the Binh Thanh and Go Vap Districts. Wearing a pink T-shirt with matching black vest and black trousers, the woman has an average build, light brown skin with a few freckles on the cheeks, shoulder-length straight black hair and black eyes.

"Phew!" the woman sighed, wiping away the sweat from her forehead once she had finished planting the flower in front of her, "That's another one down, and three more to go…"

But before the young woman continue with her planting, a black BMW X5 pulled itself into a stop in front of her house, with Minh and Ngan emerging out of the vehicle.

"Auntie Wind!" Ngan called out, running immediately towards the young woman and giving her a hug.

Wind rolled her eyes in dismay as Ngan released her hug on her, "Ngan, how many times have I told you to stop calling me an auntie? We're only three years apart!"

"Sorry." Ngan giggled, "I was just joking, you know."

" _Yare-yare_ ," Wind sighed, shaking her head slightly.

Tran Bao Quyen, affectionately called Wind by her friends and family, was Minh's best friend from high school, and the one Minh entrusted with the task of looking after Ngan in the weekdays, whenever Minh's busy with her work at Lotus Industries. A university student by occupation, Wind's love for children made her aspire to open her own kindergarten once she's graduated, and she's currently looking for a part-time job that would allow her to practice her skills with them.

"Hey Wind," Minh greeted, before she noticed the packets of flower saplings lying nearby, "Doing some gardening I see?"

Wind giggled, "Yeah, gotta do something to pass the time. Weekends can be such a bore, you know? How's your day with your sister, by the way?"

"We had a good day, right, Ngan?" Minh said, to which Ngan responded with an enthusiastic nod, "We went to the market, had lunch together, and went clothes shopping at Vincom Center. Overall, we had a great day."

"Lucky you, all I had to do for today was sit on my couch and watch some afternoon drama," Wind sighed, "Sometimes I wish that I had something to do to keep myself busy…"

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, how's the part-time job hunting going on?"

Wind shrugged, "No luck so far. I haven't found any daycare center or kindergarten who needed new teachers, but keep your fingers crossed, I think I'll find one soon. I've been crossing my fingers for two months now!"

"You know, Lotus Industries has opened a number of daycare centers throughout the city as part of its CSR program. If you want to I could pull some strings to have you…"

"Don't sweat yourself, Minh. I would be pleased if you could give me a job, but I prefer to find my own job. But yeah, I'll take your offer into consideration."

"Just text me if you need anything. I'll always be ready to help you. What are best friends for, right?"

"True," Wind chuckled, "How's Tran doing by the way?"

"She's stable, but her latest rounds of treatment haven't yielded any significant results," Minh replied, "We'll try again later tonight."

"I sure hope she'll recover soon enough."

"Hope so. I believe she's almost in remission, it's the matter of the small push that's needed to reach it."

Minh then took a quick glance at her white wristwatch, before she realized something.

"Wind, I've gotta go. I have a conference call with my colleague from Russia in half an hour. Ngan, take care of yourself and Wind, okay? Be a good girl."

Ngan nodded, letting out a smile as she does so, "Don't worry, I will. You can count on me!"

"That's my sister," Minh smiled, "See you next week, okay?"

Both Wind and Ngan bid Minh goodbye as the latter entered the X5, the vehicle leaving the premises soon afterwards.

"Ngan, feel free to take some rest, I think you had quite a day. But if you want to, you can help me out in the garden," Wind told Ngan.

"Sure thing!" Ngan replied, "I'll just take a shower first."

As Wind continued her work in the garden, Ngan went into the house, going straight for her room. Ngan's room was a medium-sized one, with a small study desk, a closet for her clothes, and a single bed. Ngan's laptop was resting nicely on the desk, with her textbooks stacked neatly around it and her backpack lying next to her chair. However, there's one thing that made Ngan's room stood out from the rest.

Littered on the walls of Ngan's room were posters of various Kamen Riders, all of them Voyager's predecessors. From Kamen Riders Ichigo and Nigo to Kamen Riders Ex-Aid and Build, an assortment of the masked heroes was present on the walls of Ngan's room. Figures of Kamen Riders Kuuga Rising Mighty Form, Gaim Orange Arms, Drive Type Speed, Ex-Aid Action Gamer Level 2, Genm Zombie Gamer Level X and Build RabbitTank Form were present on a small glass shelf located above Ngan's study desk, while super deformed figures of Kamen Riders V3, BLACK RX, and Fourze were present next to her laptop. Last but not least were news cutouts from various newspapers that were placed on a small bulletin board beneath the glass shelf, all of them depicting the various exploits of Kamen Rider Voyager in Ho Chi Minh City so far.

Chucking her purse into her closet, Ngan immediately sat in front of her laptop, turning it on and opening its internet browser. For a long time, she has been a fan of the Kamen Riders and their various heroic exploits, and when news broke that Ho Chi Minh City has its own Kamen Rider, she was excited beyond belief. Quickly Ngan started to idolize Voyager, while at the same time wondering about his true identity. Before finding out about Voyager's exploits in Ho Chi Minh City, she had been a regular visitor to the SIG website to the point of making it her browser's homepage, but her drive to find out more about Voyager made her visit the website even more frequently.

" _One day…one day I'll find out who you really are!_ " Ngan thought as she read through the new articles on the SIG website's homepage.

 **xxx**

 _ **Later that night**_

 _ **Saigon Hi-Tech Park, District 9**_

It was a quiet night at Saigon Hi-Tech Park, Ho Chi Minh City's center of high technology enterprises. Security guards were seen patrolling around the numerous facilities there, one of which was the Lotus Industries' Artificial Intelligence Research Center (AIRC), where the company was currently developing artificial intelligence for unmanned robots that will be deployed to either war zones, disaster-stricken areas, or places that were too dangerous for mankind to visit.

The same black Toyota Corolla from the Dong Tam Industrial Park attack rolled up into the Hi-Tech Park's security outpost, its driver displaying his ID at the security personnel stationed there. Once granted access, the Corolla went into the park, navigating itself through the many facilities built there before finally stopping at the AIRC.

Rolling down the window of his car, Axel took a peek out of it, his eyes relishing on the sight of the AIRC in front of him while a malicious grin was formed on his mouth.

"Let's get the party started."

 **xxx**

 _ **The next day**_

The excitement in the air was palpable as buses carrying 11th grade students of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted arrived at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park for the day of their school trip. It was a typical field trip study – students from different classes were to observe the activity in different facilities situated within the Hi-Tech Park as well as listening to speeches from the representatives from the companies in charge of those facilities. The advancement of technology for the economical purposes in Vietnam has been quite booming for the past few years and as Vietnam braces itself to become a new superpower of the Southeast Asian region, future generations were to study how this advancement in technology would benefit Vietnam's economy in the long run, which is why school trips to Hi-Tech Park like this one were organized.

The bus carrying Ngan's class pulled itself into a stop at a parking lot adjacent to the Lotus Industries AIRC facility, the vehicle's occupants stepping out of it shortly afterwards. The students were looking eager as they chatted with one another while their teacher took their attendance, before the group proceeded to head towards the AIRC facility, their pens and notebooks in hand.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed a female student, stretching her arms excitedly above her head, "I'm sooo excited for this trip! I can't believe we're actually going to see your sister giving a speech for us!"

"Keep it cool, Ponyo," Ngan chuckled, "Remember, we're here for a school trip, not to fangirl over my sister."

"But she's such an amazing person! I would sell myself to be in her presence!"

Ngan laughed at her classmate's antics as they entered the AIRC facility, where they were immediately guided to the facility's main lobby. There, a makeshift podium has been set up rather hastily yet neatly, as the first agenda of the day was an opening speech by none other than Minh herself, as the chairwoman of Lotus Industries.

 **xxx**

As the facility's staffs were busy gathering Ngan and her classmates at the lobby, elsewhere at the facility's supervisor's office, Minh and Thao were busy preparing themselves for the former's speech, the two young women clad in their formal black and white blazers.

"How do I look?" Minh asked as she looked at herself in front of a mirror, her hands busy combing her shoulder-length hair.

"You look fabulous, Minh," Thao replied.

"You think so?"

"I've been your closest friend since the beginning of time, Minh. Of course, I wouldn't lie."

"You sure about that?"

Thao sighed, "Fine, maybe I've sugarcoated it too much. Get rid of those Hello Kitty hairclips, they look tacky."

Minh grinned, taking off her hairclips and placing them on the table in front of her.

"Thanks for being honest," Minh said, taking out a bottle of perfume and spraying it twice into her mouth, before exhaling her breath twice, "How is it?"

Sniffing the air in front of her, Thao replied, "Maybe one more spray."

Minh nodded, spraying the perfume into her mouth once again, before placing the bottle on the table.

"Phew…can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm feeling really nervous today."

"Why so?" Thao asked, "You've done this kind of speech many times."

"Yeah, but never in front of my own sister and her friends! It'll be a huge disaster for her if I screw up…"

Thao placed a hand on Minh's shoulder, "Don't worry. Just do what you usually do and believe in your own abilities. You can do this!"

Minh smiled, "Thanks Thao. You're as always are a reliable friend."

"Don't mention it. Now go out there and impress them all!"

 **xxx**

"To open today's field study event, I would like to invite the chairwoman of Lotus Industries onto the stage. To Miss Le Thao Minh, the time is yours."

Ngan's class broke into applauses as Minh stepped onto the podium, her face beaming confidence. Amongst the students in front of the podium, Ngan was seen smiling from ear-to-ear, proud at her sister in front of her.

"Good morning, students of Le Hong Phong High School of the Gifted Class 11C," Minh opened her speech, "It was my greatest pleasure to welcome you all here at the Lotus Industries Artificial Intelligence Research Center, or AIRC for short. With the advancement of time and technology, the involvement of machines in our lives has become unavoidable, and with wars, conflicts, and disasters occurring around us, more and more tasks that are hazardous to man have made themselves known. Which is why we at Lotus Industries are taking the research of artificial intelligence very seriously. Here in this very building, we are developing artificial intelligence for robots designed to aid mankind in performing tasks that are…"

 ***KABOOM***

Suddenly Minh was interrupted by a large explosion that rocked the entire facility, shocking everyone in the lobby. Before everyone could figure out what's going on, the bloodied body of a security guard was thrown from the facility's second floor, the man's corpse landing right between the podium and the students sitting in front of it. Immediately the entire lobby was thrown into chaos, with the facility staffs trying to calm down the now panicking students. Amidst the chaos, Thao quickly escorted Minh away from the podium and into safety.

"What's going on?!" Minh asked as Thao guided her towards the nearest emergency exit.

"I don't know," Thao replied, "But whatever's going on, it's bad. I'm calling the police…but what about your sister?"

"The facility's staffs are with her. I'm pretty sure that they're going to take good care of her and her classmates."

Back to the facility's lobby, the students of Ngan's class were being ushered towards the exit by the facility's staffs, when suddenly the Swallowtail Maojin descended from the second floor, blocking the exit door with his daggers ready.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the Swallowtail Maojin said, pointing his daggers at the group of people in front of him.

The facility's remaining security guards rallied up around the group, pointing their weapons at the Maojin. Immediately the Swallowtail Maojin fired his finger bolts, striking, piercing through, and killing the security guards much to everyone's horror in a spectacular show of sparks.

"Like I said, I wouldn't do that if I were you," the Swallowtail Maojin repeated himself, before he proceeded to swoop down towards the group, grabbing the class' homeroom teacher by his neck before flying up once again, hovering above the group with his hostage in tow.

"Teacher!" cried the frightened students, Ngan included.

The Swallowtail Maojin chuckled, brandishing his dagger and pointing it at the frightened teacher's head, "This is a hostage situation. Bring me Kamen Rider Voyager in one hour, or…"

The Swallowtail Maojin quickly threw his dagger at an unsuspecting facility staff, striking the poor man right on his heart and killing him instantly. As horrified gasps filled the room, the facility staff slowly collapses to his back, blood coming out from both his mouth and the wound on his chest.

"…all of you, your precious teacher here included, will end up like him," the Swallowtail Maojin continued, pointing at the staff's dead body to emphasize his point.

As everyone listened to the Swallowtail Maojin's threat in shock, horror, and fear, Ngan slowly and silently knelt to her knees, closing her eyes as she started to pray.

" _Please…come and save us…Kamen Rider!_ "

 **xxx**

 _ **Steffi's apartment**_

"Behold, my newest invention!"

Beaming proudly, Vy took out a large, bazooka-like object from inside a black golf bag, surprising Krishna, Steffi, Kim, and Karin, who were all sitting at the dining table. The object was black in color, with silver highlighting and a number of multi-colored wires sticking out of it.

"Holy shit!" Krishna gawked, "Is that the thing that you were working on yesterday?!"

Vy nodded, "Yeap!"

"And where did you get that?" Kim asked.

"From Leo," Vy replied, causing Steffi to cough out in surprise, "It's an old tear gas gun used to clear riots."

"Since when did my brother decided to dump his workplace's old weapons to you?" Steffi asked.

"Since last week," Vy replied nonchalantly, "Anyway, witness the glory of Vy's Net Shooter!"

Aiming the Net Shooter at a nearby jar, Vy immediately fired the weapon, shooting a black ball of adhesives at the jar. The adhesives soon configured itself into a net, which wrapped itself around the jar much to the amazement of everyone.

"What do you think?" Vy asked.

Immediately everyone broke into applauses, much to Vy's satisfaction.

"That's quite impressive for a home-made weapon," Steffi commented.

"With that, we can capture cryptids easily now!" Kim added.

"An unorthodox weapon indeed," Karin added her comments, "But an interesting one, in my opinion. Great job, Vy."

"Welp, I have to admit that that thing could help us in the long run," Krishna gave his comments, "I'm impressed."

"Thanks guys," Vy smiled at her friends' comments, placing the Net Shooter back in its golf bag, "That really means a lot to me."

" _We interrupt this programming to bring you this breaking news_ ," a female newscaster's voice announced from the apartment's TV, attracting everyone's attention towards it, " _We have received news of a hostage situation at the Lotus Industries Artificial Intelligence Research Center…_ "

"Lotus Industries?" Krishna raised his eyebrows, "Can't it be…"

"Another attack?" Steffi added, "But I don't know…the pattern doesn't seem to fit the previous ones. The ones that we're investigating were smash-and-grab sabotage attacks, there were no hostages taken during those attacks…"

"… _as we speak from the information that we had gathered, Class 11C of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted has been taken hostage by an unidentified hostage taker here at the Lotus Industries AIRC. We are unable to understand the hostage taker's demands, as he did not ask for any money or valuable items, but for the masked hero identified as Kamen Rider Voyager to be brought upon him…_ "

"It's a Maojin," Krishna concluded, standing up immediately as he glanced at Karin. Understanding what the glance meant, Karin nodded, transforming herself into her Maojin Card form and flying into Krishna's trouser pocket, "I'm going there."

"How do you know that it's a Maojin?" Steffi asked.

Krishna didn't answer, instead he immediately went out of the apartment much to the surprise of everyone.

"Krishna, wait!" Steffi called out, only for her phone to ring. Immediately Steffi picked it up, "Hello?"

" _Sis, have you seen the news?_ " Leo's voice was heard from the other side of the line.

"Yeah, we did," Steffi replied.

" _The higher-ups have decided to mobilize the MCU to the Hi-Tech Park. They're really not taking any chances here and are sending out the big guns to resolve this hostage crisis. Is Krishna there?_ "

"He just went out a few seconds ago. If I'm correct, he's going to the Hi-Tech Park as well."

" _If that's the case…I'll see you at the Hi-Tech Park_."

"Wait, what?! What happened to the Leo who scolded us every time we do something reckless and dangerous?"

Leo chuckled, " _You've got us and Krishna. Whatever happens, we'll do our best to keep you girls safe. Besides, it's a Lotus Industries-related case. I think if we've managed to bring this hostage taker to custody, he or she could be helpful in your ongoing investigation_."

 **xxx**

 _ **Saigon Hi-Tech Park**_

"That idiot!"

Minh and Thao had evacuated themselves out of the AIRC and were now taking shelter unnoticed at a nearby biochemical laboratory. The owner of the lab was a business friend of Minh's and he had allowed the two to seek refuge in his laboratory until things at the AIRC were resolved. As they waited for the police to sort out the situation at the AIRC, Minh had asked Thao to link up the former's iPhone with the surveillance cameras at the AIRC, only to discover that they were all sabotaged.

And Minh knew all too well someone who has a knack of doing that.

"You okay?" Thao asked.

"I'm good," Minh nodded, taking out her ScanDriver, "It's just I've just found out who had compromised the AIRC…it's the same Maojin that has been messing with my factories for the past week."

Quickly Minh placed the ScanDriver against her waist, securing the device into place.

"And I'm going to teach him a lesson. **Henshin!** "

 **ACE HENSHIN! MARINE MANTA!**

Fully transformed in her armor, Kamen Rider Mariner glanced at Thao for a moment.

"Stay here. I'll handle things at the AIRC."

Thao nodded as Mariner ran off, confident that her friend would be able to do what she had told her.

" _That damn Maojin…taking my sister and her class hostage was not part of the plan!_ " Mariner cursed in her thoughts as she leapt over the laboratory's fence, making no hesitation as she headed back towards the AIRC.

 **xxx**

At the same time, Krishna had arrived at the AIRC, parking his motorcycle among the numerous police cars stationed near the facility. The AIRC building was swarmed with both policemen and members of the press, with a police officer explaining to the journalists on what's going on inside the AIRC. Other police officers were seen with their standard pistols and riot shields, moving back and forth the AIRC's proximity in high alert. No one has entered the AIRC building yet – Leo had specifically instructed the officers to stand guard around the building, fearing that if the policemen acted rashly by breaking into the AIRC, they might risk agitating the hostage taker that would lead to civilian casualties.

Speaking about Leo, the MCU leader was seen instructing a couple of officers near his police car when Krishna came up to him. Seeing Krishna coming towards him, Leo immediately dismissed the two officers, greeting the young man with a salute afterwards.

"How's the situation?" Krishna asked.

"I've sent Thy and Hako to the west and east sides of the building with small platoons of MCU officers as their escorts," Leo replied, "They haven't gone in yet, but they're still surveying the premises."

"How much time did the hostage taker give to us?"

"One hour."

"How much time do we have left?"

"Ten minutes."

Krishna bit his lower lip rather anxiously, knowing that if they did not act now, the lives of the hostages inside the AIRC will surely be placed in danger.

"Have you sent a negotiator yet?" Krishna asked.

"Not yet…since we still have no idea on what's going on inside."

"What's with the delay?"

"The AIRC building isn't exactly the most straightforward of buildings," Leo explained, "It was built with safeguarding Lotus Industries' artificial intelligence research in mind. There were not many windows in the building that we could peek from and the heat map readings from inside the building indicated that the hostage taker had taken the hostages into the heart of the building, where we couldn't look at them from either the doors or the windows without making our presence known to the hostage taker."

"Damn," Krishna bit his lower lip once again.

"Luckily, we've got a surveillance drone with us," Leo told Krishna, "However we need to find the right moment and angle to fly it without the hostage taker noticing the drone. If he or she saw the drone, they'll know that we're here and the evacuation process will be difficult."

"I see."

 **xxx**

At the east side of the building, Thy with three Kevlar-garbed police officers were scouring the premises, looking for an opening for Thy to fly the MCU's surveillance drone. Likewise, at the west side of the building, Hako and her three officers were doing the same thing as well.

"Hako, do you read me, over?" Thy spoke to her walkie-talkie.

" _Loud and clear, Thy, over_ ," came Hako's reply.

"Do you see an opening for your drone, over?" Thy asked.

" _Nope, over_ ," Hako replied, " _We could only find an emergency exit here at the east side, over. How about you?_ "

"No luck either here at the west side, over," Thy answered, before she noticed something nearby, "Hang on…"

" _What is it, over?_ "

"I think I saw an opening, over."

The opening that Thy meant was a small air vent, located right above her head. It's high enough for the drone to fly to and small enough for the drone to peek to unnoticed, making it the perfect viewing point for the group to see what's going on inside the AIRC building.

Immediately one of the Kevlar-garbed officers placed a black briefcase onto the ground, before entering a combination code to unlock it. Another officer picked up a black drone and a small camera from the briefcase, installing the camera onto the drone's underside before handing it over towards the third officer. The first officer then proceeded to take out a remote-control device that somewhat resembled a gaming joypad from the briefcase and gave the device to Thy.

"Right, the drone is up and running," Thy said after activating the remote-control, which at the same time activated the drone, "Let's do this."

Thy slowly moved the device's D-pad as the third officer let go of the drone, causing it to float away from the third officer's hands. The drone hovered above the group's heads for a few seconds, before Thy guided the drone towards the air vent.

"Leo, have you got visual, over?" Thy asked to her walkie-talkie.

 **xxx**

"Positive, over," Leo replied to his own walkie-talkie.

Both Leo and Krishna were now sitting in front of the opened boot of Leo's police car, where the former had placed his laptop. The laptop's screen displayed a live video feed of what the drone's recording right now, a view of the AIRC building's interior from the air vent. The video feed showed the Swallowtail Maojin circling menacingly around his now sitting hostages, the hostages were all cowering in fear as the Swallowtail Maojin twirled his daggers in his hands in a taunting manner.

"HQ, are you seeing this too, over?" Leo asked his walkie-talkie.

 **xxx**

 _ **Ho Chi Minh City Police Department Headquarters, District 1**_

A large LCD TV was set up rather hastily inside the MCU's temporary war room, with the screen being split into 7 parts, six smaller screens sandwiching one large one. The large one was broadcasting the video feed from the drone, while the other six ones were news broadcasts of the current hostage situation.

Standing in front of the TV was Khanh Linh, a walkie-talkie on her hand, while sitting next to her was Professor Truoc, the older man's eyes were fixated on the larger screen on the TV.

"We're seeing the drone's video feed clearly here in HQ, over," Khanh Linh told her walkie-talkie, before turning her attention towards Professor Truoc, "What do you think?"

"The details of the person in the video feed are quite sketchy, due to the low quality of the video. However, from the wing-like structures on the person's back, I can safe to say that it's an Unrecorded Lifeform, based on either a bird, a bat, or a butterfly," Professor Truoc replied.

Khanh Linh nodded, before speaking to her walkie-talkie once again, "The Professor has confirmed it, the hostage taker is an Unrecorded Lifeform. What should we do next, over?"

 **xxx**

 _ **Saigon Hi-Tech Park, just outside the AIRC building, District 9**_

"We'll slip in Lieutenants Thy and Hako with their platoon through the emergency exits, and quietly extract the hostages from there. We'll secretly add more armed officers as the evacuation process, in case the Unrecorded Lifeform…"

Suddenly Krishna placed his hand on Leo's shoulder, "Leo, don't bother with that plan. I'll go in. By myself."

"Krishna?" Leo blinked in surprise, "Why?"

"The Maojin clearly wants me," Krishna replied, "It is safe to say, our best bet is having me go in there and engage the Maojin directly."

"But it's too risky! What if…"

"Which one do you prefer, me getting a broken leg or us losing those hostages?" Krishna asked.

Leo went silent for a few seconds, before letting out a reluctant sigh.

"Fine. But the moment you're getting in trouble, we're sending the troops in."

Saluting Leo in gratitude, Krishna immediately made a dash towards the AIRC's main entrance. As the young man disappeared from his sight, Leo took out his walkie-talkie and contacted HQ once again.

"Change of plans. We're sending Voyager in as a negotiator, over."

 **xxx**

Inside the AIRC building, the Swallowtail Maojin patrolled around his cowering hostages, making sure that no one's having any funny ideas. The monstrous creature then took a glance at a nearby clock, which showed him the time remaining for the authorities to hand Voyager over to him.

"Two more minutes," the Swallowtail Maojin muttered, "Better sound my urgency to them."

Quickly the Swallowtail Maojin made his way towards a cowering Ngan, grabbing the teen by her collar much to her shock and horror. Brandishing his dagger, the Swallowtail Maojin quickly pointed it threateningly at a squirming Ngan's neck.

"You only have two minutes left!" the Swallowtail Maojin yelled, his voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone outside the AIRC, "Hand Kamen Rider Voyager over to me or I'll start my killing spree! Starting…with this lovely young lady."

"Let go of her."

The Swallowtail Maojin turned around to see Krishna standing in front of him, the young man glaring at the Maojin. A relieved yet surprised look washed itself over Ngan's face as she saw Krishna.

"Krishna!" Ngan called out.

"And who are you supposed to be?" the Swallowtail Maojin asked.

Krishna responded by taking out his ScanDriver and placing it on his waist.

 **READY!**

"Ah, so you're Voyager," the Swallowtail Maojin said, causing Ngan's eyes to go wide in disbelief, "Finally you've showed up."

"Taking hostages of the defenseless? That's pretty low, even for a Maojin," Krishna said, taking out his Thunder Kabuto card, " **Henshin!** "

 **ACE HENSHIN! THUNDER KABUTO!**

As Krishna transformed into Voyager, the Swallowtail Maojin let go of Ngan, before preparing his daggers, twirling them in his hands in delight.

"Let's take this outside," Voyager told the Swallowtail Maojin, to which the Maojin agreed to.

Immediately the two combatants jumped out of a nearest window, as Ngan and her class watched on.

" _Krishna…is Kamen Rider Voyager?_ " Ngan's thoughts went wild as she watched Voyager and the Swallowtail Maojin's fight, " _No wonder he was able to return my purse with ease the other day…he's truly a hero, both as himself and as a Kamen Rider!_ "

 **xxx**

 **(Cue BGM: eternal traveller – Project DMM)**

The battle between Voyager and the Swallowtail Maojin was an equal one, neither one gaining the upper-hand over each other. Charging purple electricity into his fists, Voyager landed a couple of blows onto the Swallowtail Maojin's chest, before the kaijin retaliated by slashing Voyager across the torso twice with his daggers. The two then grappled with each other, rolling onto the ground as they wailed punches after punches to each other's face.

Seeing the commotion between Voyager and the Swallowtail Maojin nearby, Leo felt that the opportunity to save the hostages has presented itself.

"Hako, Thy, now's your chance! Move into the building and save the hostages, over!" Leo commanded.

" _Copy that, over!_ " replied both Hako and Thy in unison.

Immediately Hako and Thy, along with their officers, stormed the AIRC building through the emergency exits and safely evacuated the hostages there, Ngan included. They were then taken to a makeshift shelter located near the parked police cars, safe and sound from any danger.

 **TWO EQUIP! THUNDER CENTAURUS!**

Arming himself with the Kaminari Blade to counter the Swallowtail Maojin's daggers, Voyager quickly clashed his weapon with the kaijin's, the two going back and forth at it. Despite the size of his daggers, the Swallowtail Maojin's skills with them enabled him to go toe-to-toe with Voyager's Kaminari Blade, matching the Rider's swordsmanship easily. Charging purple electricity into his daggers, the Swallowtail Maojin fired a couple of energy slashes, which were quickly nullified by an energy slash from Voyager's Kaminari Blade.

As the Rider and Maojin battled on, Hako and Thy were busy handling the evacuated hostages. They were mostly unharmed, apart from the single facility staff that was killed by the Swallowtail Maojin's dagger early into the hostage crisis, but they clearly looked shaken from the ordeal. Thy was busy handing out water bottles to the hostages when suddenly she noticed a blue blur rushing into the nearby battlefield.

"Eh?" Thy blinked her eyes twice, making sure that she hasn't seen things, "What was that?"

Their weapons energized, both Voyager and the Swallowtail Maojin charged at each other…only for the blue blur to suddenly show up between them. Voyager was kicked on the stomach by the blur, while the Swallowtail Maojin received a solid punch to the head by it.

 **(BGM ends)**

Clearly surprised by what had just hit him, Voyager groggily stood up, clutching his stomach and using the Kaminari Blade as support. The Swallowtail Maojin stood up as well, shaking his head groggily as he was also caught off-guard by that attack.

"Who did that?" Voyager asked.

The Rider's question was answered seconds afterwards, with the blur coming to a stop in front of both Voyager and the Swallowtail Maojin, revealing itself to be Kamen Rider Mariner.

"You!" Voyager gasped.

"Ah, the very two people that I wanted to meet," Mariner said, before she proceeded to grab the Swallowtail Maojin by the throat to his surprise, "You fucking idiot. Taking my sister hostage like that…that was not part of the plan!"

" _Sister? Plan?_ " Voyager wondered, " _What's going on?_ "

"B-but…I..m-mu-s-t…do..a-a-any-thing..to..d-r-aw…ou-t…Vo-ya-ger…" the Swallowtail Maojin stammered as Mariner tightened her grip on his windpipe.

"By taking my sister and her friends hostage? That's disgusting," Mariner growled, before she proceeded to toss the Swallowtail Maojin like a dirty ragdoll to the ground, "Now buzz off! You're lucky that you're not my priority right now. But if we cross paths once again…I will deliver the judgement that you deserved."

"You…I won't forget this!" a clearly humiliated Swallowtail Maojin coughed out, before the kaijin quickly flew away from the battlefield.

"Wait!" Voyager called out, only for Mariner to deliver a solid jab to his face.

"Your opponent is me," Mariner told Voyager, "Voyager…your crimes against my father shall be paid by your blood!"

"Crimes? Father?" Voyager blinked underneath his helmet as he rubbed his face in pain, before the realization came to him, "It can't be…"

 **xxx**

" _Eric is dead, Voyager! Because_ _ **YOU**_ _killed him!"_

" _They said that he died in a traffic accident…but I'm not that convinced. Something about his death to me feels…suspicious."_

" _Le Ngoc Duy's nickname is Eric."_

" _I don't know if you've already known about this…but Le Thao Minh is Eric's daughter."_

 **xxx**

"No…" Voyager gasped as the realization dawned upon him, "Not you…"

"I have taken my father's proud armor and I will use it to avenge his undeserved death," Mariner said, before she pointed at Voyager accusingly, "Even though it means that I must kill the man who I have considered as a brother to me for all these years!"

"Minh…" Voyager muttered in disbelief, realizing that his opponent in front of him was in fact his dear old friend, "Is that really you?"

"Yes, I'm Minh," Mariner replied, "And as the successor of the Mariner title and armor, I will destroy you for what you've done to my father, Krishna!"

Leo blinked his eyes in shock as Mariner began her assault on Voyager. Not only the fact that there's another Rider in Ho Chi Minh City other than Voyager, but also the fact that this new Rider has decided to announce its presence to the world by outright attacking Voyager had shocked Leo to the core.

" _Another Rider…but why is that Rider attacking Voyager?_ " Leo wondered, before a swooshing noise from above snapped him back to reality.

Flying above Leo's head was the Swallowtail Maojin, flying away from the battlefield. Immediately Leo reached for his walkie-talkie.

"Hako, Thy, the hostage taker is on the run. Grab your biggest sticks and go after him, over!"

 **(Cue BGM: Agul Attack – Toshihiko Sahashi from the Ultraman Gaia OST)**

Mariner attacked Voyager relentlessly, landing punch after punch onto the latter's face. Still shocked by the fact that Minh had been Mariner all along, Voyager was unable to defend himself, leaving himself open for a roundhouse kick to the neck that sends him flying.

Not wanting to lose her momentum, Mariner took out a Maojin Card from her card holder. It was a Water Tribe card, judging by its blue coloration and the familiar swirling blue icon. The card depicted a barracuda chasing a group of fishes through the open ocean, with the words " **PELAGIC BARRACUDA** " emblazoned in white on the card's blue line. The backside of the card was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **10** superimposed on a cup engraved on it. Wasting no time, Mariner inserted the card into the slot on her right hip.

 **TEN ABILITY! PELAGIC BARRACUDA!**

A bluish aura overtook Mariner's body before she started to run, her entire body turning into the same blue blur that had entered the battlefield earlier. Voyager slowly stood up from Mariner's initial attack, only for Mariner's blur form to crash onto him several times. The black and blue Rider's speed was so great, Voyager did not have the time to pinpoint Mariner's exact location for him to launch a counter. Sparks flew from where Mariner's blur had struck Voyager, and within seconds the black and purple Rider was on his knees again.

 **(BGM ends)**

" _ **Krishna!**_ " Karin called out as Voyager collapses on his back, " _ **Krishna! Are you okay? Hang in there!**_ "

"I'm good," Voyager groaned, "It's just…"

" _ **Get your head in the game, man!**_ " Karin urged, " _ **Keep this up and you'll be turned into pulp in no time!**_ "

"I know," Voyager nodded weakly, "But I don't want to hurt her…"

" _ **I know that Minh has some sentimental value to you, but for the love of God, she's trying to kill you!**_ " Karin scolded, " _ **Could you at least do something so that you could at least survive this battle?**_ "

"True," Voyager sighed, slowly reaching for his card holder and taking out the Hurricane Eagle card from there, "I don't want to do this…but at least I could tire her out and use that opportunity to retreat…"

 **ACE HENSHIN! HURRICANE EAGLE!**

 **(Cue BGM: Hurricane Slash no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

Standing up as he assumed his Hurricane Form, Voyager slowly took a deep breath, his eagle-enhanced senses trying their best in locating Mariner. Seeing that Voyager had become stationary, Mariner seized the chance, heading straight towards the black, green, and sky blue Rider with her fists ready. However, that was exactly what Voyager had planned for.

"Now!"

Quickly Voyager used his enhanced speed and reflexes to jump out of the way, before using the jump's momentum to launch himself for an impromptu flying side kick that struck Mariner on the head, kicking her out of her blur form. As Mariner tumbled on the ground, Voyager landed gracefully, regaining his composure to perform his catchphrase.

"I cut apart darkness faster than the speed of light!"

"Darkness?" Mariner chuckled sarcastically as she stood up, "Don't joke around!"

A bluish aura once again enveloped Mariner as the Pelagic Barracuda card's properties were still in effect, as a greenish one enveloped Voyager, the Rider having tapped his enhanced speed to its full potential. Within seconds the two Riders had become blurs of blue and green, the two blurs clashing with each other repeatedly.

"My father's blood is in your hands, Krishna!" Mariner exclaimed, "You will pay for what you've done to my family two years ago!"

"I wasn't even in Vietnam two years ago!" Voyager protested.

"Liar!"

"I'm not lying, Minh! Can we just stop this nonsense and talk this through like grownups?"

"I won't stop until you've received your judgement!"

Both Voyager and Mariner performed side-kicks onto one another's torsos, which pushed the two Riders apart as their respective auras died out. The two combatants panted heavily, the intensity of the battle clearly taking a toll at them, but neither of them showing any signs of stopping soon.

 **(BGM ends)**

Suddenly Mariner went for her card holder, taking out a card that was all too familiar for Voyager.

"That's!"

"The Tectonic Mole card," Mariner said, showing the card that she had stolen from Voyager a while ago, "You're not the only one capable of fighting using different elements, Voyager."

And with that Mariner inserted the Tectonic Mole card into the slot on the trilobite-like device planted on her right gauntlet, the device's "eyes" flashing orange once the card had been inserted into it, prompting a computerized male voice, similar to that of the ScanDrivers, to yell out,

 **NINE ARMTRANS! TECTONIC MOLE!**

Voyager's eyes went wide in shock as a yellow glow overtook Mariner's right forearm, the forearm configuring itself into something. Seconds later the glow died out, revealing that Mariner's entire right forearm has been covered in a dense orange armor with silver highlights, complete with a card slot on the back of a small mole's head attached to Mariner's gauntlet. However, what stood out from Mariner's brand new power-up was her right hand…or the lack of it. Gone was the Rider's right hand, being replaced with a silver drill with orange highlights, ready to pierce through the bodies of Mariner's opponents.

"Holy shit…" Voyager gasped upon the sight of Mariner's drill hand.

"Meet the Mole Driller," Mariner introduced her new weapon, "Now, feel the might of my ArmTrans ability, Voyager!"

Unknown to the two battling Riders, Ngan had been watching them from the sidelines for quite a while, a look of both awe and disbelief on her face. A few minutes ago Thy and Hako had left the shelter where she was at in order to go after the Swallowtail Maojin, enabling Ngan to slip her way out of the shelter and into the battlefield's sidelines undetected, giving herself front row seats to the clash between the Riders. And so far, what she had saw had blown her mind completely.

"Why…" Ngan muttered quietly as Mariner attacked Voyager once again, bashing him mercilessly with her Mole Driller, "Why do Riders have to fight each other?"

 **xxx**

Meanwhile, not far from the AIRC, the Swallowtail Maojin had hightailed himself out of the battlefield, utterly humiliated from what Mariner had done to him.

" _That wench!_ " the Swallowtail Maojin growled in his thoughts, " _After all that I did to help her with Star's plan to defeat Voyager once and for all…and she treated me like trash in return! I swear that I won't forget this humiliation…Mariner, you must pay for what you've done to me!_ "

Unfortunately for the Swallowtail Maojin, he was too busy grumbling in his thoughts that he didn't care to pay attention to watch where his going. A familiar yellow Suzuki Swift came into view, coming straight towards the Swallowtail Maojin, but the kaijin saw the incoming vehicle a few seconds too late. The car smacked the Swallowtail Maojin's body out of the air, sending him flying back to a nearby pile of garbage.

"What the Hell was that?!" Kim gawked as she, Vy, and Steffi stepped out of the Swift, with Kim checking her car for any sign of damage, "Goddamnit, my car's all dented and shit!"

"That's the least of our concerns," Steffi said, pointing at the Swallowtail Maojin shaking off trash from his body nearby, "A cryptid!"

"Getting smacked by a car twice in the past three days, some luck do I have," the Swallowtail Maojin muttered, before he noticed the three SIG members standing warily near him, "Well hello there."

Slowly the Swallowtail Maojin approached Steffi and her friends, his daggers ready in his hands.

"You three were the ones who had crashed into me, huh?" the Swallowtail Maojin asked, pointing his dagger intimidatingly at the trio, "Well then, I've had a frustrating day and you three are the perfect outlet for my frustration!"

Immediately the Swallowtail Maojin jumped towards Steffi and her friends, purple electricity surging into his daggers with the weapons poised to tear the three young women into pieces. However…

"Vy, now!"

Taking out her black golf bag from the car's back seat, Vy took out the Net Shooter from it and fired the weapon without hesitation, landing a direct hit onto the Swallowtail Maojin's chest. Within seconds the Swallowtail Maojin was covered in a net of black adhesive, the kaijin squirming back-and-forth in a futile attempt to escape from it.

"Thank God you brought that thing with us, Vy," Steffi said as she, Kim, and Vy stood over the immobilized Maojin's body, "Without it we're toast!"

"I'm just glad that the Net Shooter works on cryptids," Vy lets out a relieved sigh, "I've never tested this on living creatures before!"

As the SIG members reveled in their victory, Leo, Thy, and Hako came into the scene, the three MCU members carrying their Buster grenade launchers with them.

"Hey sis," Leo greeted, "Have you seen an Unrecorded Lifeform near here?"

"You mean this guy?" Steffi asked back, pointing at the captured Swallowtail Maojin.

"Oh my God!" Leo gawked, signaling Hako and Thy to come closer to him as he inspected the captured Maojin, "You girls did this by yourselves?"

"Pretty much," Kim replied, "Vy's newest invention has saved our bacon."

Vy lets out a slight blush after hearing that, proud at her own invention's usefulness.

"Can we see it?" Hako asked.

"Sure!" Vy nodded, passing the Net Shooter to Hako.

Hako inspected the Net Shooter for a moment, before passing it to Thy. Thy checked out the weapon in her hands and was instantly awestruck by it, before finally giving it to Leo, who instantly recognized the weapon's original form.

"Vy, isn't this the tear gas gun that I've given to you last week?" Leo asked.

Vy nodded.

"No wonder I felt that I've seen this weapon somewhere before," Hako said, "So what did you do to it?"

"I converted it into a weapon that shoots out an adhesive net that capture targets," Vy explained, "I'm calling it the Net Shooter…I think it could be useful in our battle against the Maojins."

"From the looks of it, I think it is!" Leo said, glancing at the captured Swallowtail Maojin, "Now what should we do about our friend here?"

Steffi was about to give a reply when suddenly she noticed a black energy slash heading towards them.

"Duck!" Steffi yelled, prompting everyone to duck and cover as the black energy slash hits the ground, sending a cloud of dust that obscured everyone's vision.

Coughing out the dust from him, Leo looked around to make sure that everyone's alright.

"Is everyone okay?" Leo asked.

"We're good," came the reply from Steffi, with Vy coughing out dust and Kim clearing her throat.

"Same here," came Thy's reply, with Hako dusting off her uniform.

As the dust settles, Leo noticed a black humanoid slowly walking towards them. Immediately Leo grabbed his Buster, gesturing Hako and Thy to do the same thing as well.

"Who are you?" Leo asked, pointing the Buster towards the humanoid's direction, "Show yourself!"

Walking out from the cloud of dust was Star, his Destruction Blade in his right hand, while his left hand was carrying the captured Swallowtail Maojin.

"You!" Leo called out, "You're that black Unrecorded Lifeform from the other day!"

Star chuckled, brushing off the fact that Leo, Hako, and Thy were pointing their Busters at him, with Vy preparing her Net Shooter as well.

"At ease, humans. I'm not here to fight you," Star said, "I'm here to pick up my subordinate, that's all."

"And why should we believe you?" Thy asked.

"As much as I wanted to lay waste on each and every one of you, I think you have a much more important battle to see," Star replied, "A battle…where Voyager will meet his end!"

"Voyager…shit!" Leo cursed, realizing that due to the pursuit of the Swallowtail Maojin, he had forgotten about the battle between Voyager and Mariner, "Guys, let's go back to the AIRC! Voyager's in trouble!"

Star smirked as everyone hastily boarded Kim's car, with the driver flooring the vehicle immediately towards the AIRC. As the vehicle disappeared from sight, Star waved his Destruction Blade in a circular manner, creating a black portal of pure darkness large enough for him to go through. Star stepped into the portal, with the captured Swallowtail Maojin in tow, before the portal closed itself up.

 **xxx**

 **(Cue BGM: Hell March 3 – Frank Klepacki from the Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 OST)**

Screaming in pure rage, Mariner slammed her Mole Driller repeatedly into Voyager's chest, sparks flying from where the drill had hit the latter's chest armor. Not contend in stopping there, Mariner slashed Voyager's shoulders twice, dislodging the Rider's left shoulder armor, before Mariner proceeded to stab her drill onto Voyager's helmet. More sparks flew out as a portion of Voyager's right eye fell to the ground, smoke billowing out from both the eyepiece and the damaged shoulder armor.

Clutching his damaged helmet and with pain racking throughout his body, Voyager stumbled back, his Hurricane Form armor was mangled badly on the chest while his aforementioned left shoulder had lost its pauldron.

" _Damn…_ " Voyager thought as he tried to regroup himself, " _Minh's really taking advantage of the fact that my Hurricane Form armor has the weakest defense out of all of my forms! Why the fuck did I assume this form…oh right, her super speed. Forgot about it._ "

"Any last words?" Mariner asked, pointing her Mole Driller at Voyager, the latter's right eye clearly bloodied from Mariner's assault.

Voyager shook his head, "Not yet…the fight's not over yet!"

Voyager quickly took out a Maojin Card from his card holder. It was a Wind Tribe card, judging by the green line on the card's left hand side and the swirling symbol icon. The card depicted a hummingbird drinking nectar out of its favorite flower, with the words " **HOVER HUMMINGBIRD** " being emblazoned in white on the card's green line. The backside of the card was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **5** superimposed on a wand engraved on it.

Wasting no time, Voyager inserted the Hover Hummingbird card into his right hip slot.

 **FIVE ABILITY! HOVER HUMMINGBIRD!**

A pair of green holographic wings of energy appeared in above Voyager, prompting the Rider to jump up towards it. The wings attached themselves onto Voyager's back before they started to flap rapidly, granting Voyager the hovering power of a hummingbird.

Seeing that Voyager has taken to the skies, Mariner quickly took out the Lighting Firefly card from her card holder and inserted it into the slot on her right gauntlet.

 **NINE ARMTRANS! LIGHTNING FIREFLY!**

A purple glow overtook Mariner's entire right arm as it changed shape, the glow dying out seconds afterwards to reveal a large gunmetal gray blaster cannon that had replaced Mariner's entire right forearm, with a group of purple and gunmetal gray Oudin coils being implanted into Mariner's right shoulder, with a diagonal card slot being placed nicely among them. Purple circuit-like lines adorn the blaster cannon's surface, with a purple image of a firefly being emblazoned on the cannon's surface as well. The cannon itself was a double-barreled one.

Voyager's eyes went wide in shock at the sight of Mariner's new weapon, realizing that no matter what kind of maneuver that he has, Mariner has a trick of her own designed to counter it.

"Voyager, meet my Firefly Buster," Mariner introduced her newly formed weapon at the airborne Voyager, "I will shoot you out of the sky in no time!"

"Not if I have something to say about it!" Voyager exclaimed, taking out an Overcharge Card and inserting it into his right hip slot.

 **HURRICANE OVERCHARGE!**

Realizing that Voyager's about to pull off an Overcharge on her, Mariner took out her own Overcharge Card, tossing it into the card slot on her right shoulder.

 **LIGHTNING ARMTRANS OVERCHARGE!**

" **Hurricane Hover Smash!** " Voyager exclaimed, performing a diving flying side kick that was enhanced by the rapidly beating wings on his back, his right foot charged with swirling green energy.

" **Firefly Lightning Bomber!** " Mariner exclaimed, aiming her Firefly Buster at the incoming Voyager. Purple electricity surged throughout the Oudin coils on her shoulder, before being transmitted through the lines on the blaster cannon towards the weapon's muzzle. Purple electricity cackled in front of the Firefly Buster's double barrels, before Mariner fired a concentrated stream of purple electricity from them.

Within seconds the stream of electricity struck the incoming Voyager, striking the Rider down in a shower of sparks and multiple explosions. His energy wings shattered from the attack, Voyager landed back-first onto the cold hard ground with a loud thud, smoke billowing out from his heavily damaged Hurricane Form armor.

 **(BGM ends)**

Mariner slowly walked up towards the downed Voyager, her Firefly Buster disappearing into motes of purple light as it reverted back into her normal right arm. But just as she was about to pull out another Overcharge Card to finish off Voyager, suddenly Mariner was shocked by her opponent pulling himself back together, fighting through the pain barrier as he stood up.

"You're still alive after _**that**_?!" Mariner gawked in surprise.

"Minh…like I said…the fight is not over yet," Voyager said, the Thunder Kabuto card in his hand.

 **ACE HENSHIN! THUNDER KABUTO!**

Resisting the pain racking throughout his body, Voyager, back in his default Thunder Form, took out his Overcharge Card, prompting Mariner to quickly step back, taking out her own Overcharge Card in the process.

" _ **Krishna, are you insane?!**_ " Karin asked out in both shock and panic, " _ **You're too injured to continue!**_ "

"I know," Voyager nodded, "This is my final attack…it won't damage her too much, but it'll disorient her long enough for us to make our escape."

" _ **Krishna…**_ "

"It's a gamble…but one that I'm hoping to pull off successfully."

Ngan watched on silently and anxiously from the sidelines, as the two Kamen Riders prepared to pull off their final attacks on one another. Clasping her hands together, Ngan slowly closed her eyes, praying that the battle unfolding in front of her would end quickly. The battle itself has been a horrendous one and Ngan doesn't want to watch even more.

Voyager inserted his Overcharge Card into his right hip slot.

 **THUNDER OVERCHARGE!**

Purple electricity surged and cackled from Voyager's ScanDriver, the energies being channeled into Voyager's right boot, a purple glow coming out of it.

At the same time, Mariner inserted her Overcharge Card into her right hip slot.

 **MARINE OVERCHARGE!**

Blue energy surged from Mariner's ScanDriver, being channeled through the blue lines on the Rider's bodysuit into her legs. Both of Mariner's boots glowed blue, the lines on her legs glowing blue as well.

The two Riders immediately began their run-up after they had gathered enough energy, with Voyager leaving behind purple footprints of his energized right boot and Mariner leaving behind blue footprints from her energized boots. Midway through their run-up, the two Riders jumped, with Voyager somersaulting in mid-air to assume a flying side kick position, while Mariner assumed a dropkick position, being propelled forward by jets of water bursting out from her heels.

" **Lightning Smash!** " Voyager exclaimed, launching himself towards Mariner with his energized right boot ready.

" **Marine Crusher!** " Mariner announced, the jets of water from her heels propelling her towards the incoming Voyager, her energized boots going straight for the kill.

Letting out yells of determination, the two Riders performed their Rider Kicks on each other, creating a huge explosion in mid-air the moment the Riders' boots made contact with their respective targets. Ngan had to duck and cover as the shockwave of the explosion almost blew her off her feet, while the same shockwave shattered the windows of not only the AIRC, but also the buildings surrounding the facilities. Car alarms were set off as their windows were shattered by the aftereffects of the explosion, while the cameras of the news crew covering both the hostage situation and the subsequent battle were rendered offline.

As the smoke and fire from the explosion died out, the aftermath of the Rider Kick clash was revealed to the world to see. Voyager was on his back, writhing in pain as his armor disintegrated away involuntarily, while Mariner was standing firmly on both feet a few meters in front of him. Ngan slowly crawled up towards the two, trying her best to be unseen by them.

"I'm not happy," Mariner suddenly spoke, "I'm not happy with this battle at all."

"W-why?" Krishna asked, wincing in pain as he struggled to sit up.

"You were holding back," Mariner replied, "You're not fighting at your full potential…and fighting an opponent who is not 100% into the battle is not honorable at all. Why are you holding yourself back, Krishna? Is it because you're fighting someone who you had known for a long time? Someone that you've already considered as family?"

"Minh…"

"I know, Krishna. It's never easy to fight someone who you grew close with…even I have to admit that. But still…justice still needs to be served and you must pay for what you've done."

"But I didn't…"

"Not another word, Krishna."

Mariner slowly turned around, taking out her Marine Manta card from her ScanDriver in the process. Mariner's armor lets off a blue glow, before it disintegrated into blue motes of light, revealing Minh, slightly bruised in a few places, her lower lip cut, and a slightly bloodied wound was seen on her forehead.

"No way!" Ngan's eyes went wide in shock as she saw her sister standing over the badly injured Krishna, " _Nee-chan_ … _nee-chan_ is a Kamen Rider like Krishna?!"

With her ScanDriver still on her waist, Minh took out her Hydro Alpheid card from her card holder, before inserting the card into the slot on her left hip.

 **NINE EQUIP! HYDRO ALPHEID!**

The Hydro Gunner materializes itself in Minh's hands, before the young woman proceeded to point the shotgun at Krishna. Ngan lets out an inaudible gasp at this sight, however Krishna remained calm and composed underneath gunpoint, despite still writhing in pain from his injuries.

"You know, I would have easily finish you off right here and right now," Minh said, lowering the Hydro Gunner much to Ngan's relief from the sidelines, "But doing that would not be an honorable thing to do. As heinous as your crimes were…you're too injured and weakened to fight back. Finishing you off now would be a cowardly thing to do and it'll bring shame to my late father's legacy."

"I see that you've inherited your father's sense of honor," Krishna chuckled through his pain, "I'm glad that he had taught you well."

"I'm more than determined to avenge my father's death, but I'm also determined to do it in an honorable way. What that Maojin did to my sister and her class and your inability to focus on the battle at hand had made this battle a complete mockery to my standards."

"Wait…so when you said plan earlier…that means…"

"I've used that Maojin as bait to lure you in for our battle. However, seeing that those bastards are sneaky as Hell, I've decided to take matters into my own hands and arrange our future battle by myself. The last thing that I wanted is innocent blood being spilled to the ground because of our fight."

"Making sure that there's no collateral damage…Minh, you sure held your pride and honor really highly, huh?"

"Three days, Krishna. I'm giving you three days to fix your mind and your body, and then we can finally settle things once and for all, in a duel to the death, one-on-one, just between us, no holds barred. Meet me at Quach Thi Trang roundabout in front of Ben Thanh Market at 10am three days from now. I'll have Thao write a formal letter regarding our duel where I will tell you where we will have our battle. I hope that by that time, you'll be more than prepared for our second round."

And after saying that, Minh slowly turned her back on Krishna, walking away from the injured young man without saying another word. In the sidelines, Ngan was left speechless from everything that she had seen.

" _Nee-chan_ …why are you and Krishna fighting? I thought you two knew each other? You two looked like good friends when you two talked yesterday…why fight like this? Don't tell me… _nee-chan_ …"

Suddenly the sound of footsteps quickly heading Ngan's way was heard, prompting the teenager to quickly take her leave. Ngan doesn't want anyone to know that she had sneaked out of the shelter and fearing that she might get caught, she decided that it was for the best that she leave the place as soon as possible.

"Krishna!"

Leo and Steffi ran up towards the injured Krishna, the two of them clearly looking concerned.

"Krishna! Are you okay?"

"Hang in there!"

As Leo and Steffi picked Krishna up, they were joined by Hako, Thy, Kim, and Vy. Leo told Kim to fetch her car quickly, which the young woman complied almost immediately. After Kim had parked her car near the group, Leo and Steffi loaded Krishna into the back seat of the car, with Hako taking care of Krishna's motorcycle and Thy taking the wheel of Leo's police car. The three vehicles then left the AIRC, heading straight towards the nearest hospital.

 **xxx**

 _ **Xich Quy Joint Stock Company Headquarters, Phu My Hung Urban Area, District 7**_

A satisfied smirk was seen on Rin's face as she turned off her flat screen TV in her office. Along with Tower and Justice by her side, Rin had just finished watching the news coverage of the hostage crisis at the AIRC, along with the battle between Voyager and Mariner that followed afterwards. The coverage was cut short the moment the explosion from the two Riders' respective Rider Kicks clashing disabled the news cameras stationed there, but for Rin, she had already seen enough. And she was enjoying every single moment of it.

"Star, you magnificent bastard," Rin lets out a slight chuckle, "By using the Swallowtail Maojin as bait to lure Voyager into a fight with Mariner and having the two going after each other's throats…it's quite sneaky, but ingenious nonetheless."

"I think that explosion was strong enough to put both of them out of action for a while," Tower commented, "What should we do next, Madam?"

"Just do what your kind is best in doing," Rin replied simply as she stood up from her sofa, "Create as much mayhem as possible."

"Oh yes, we will most definitely take advantage of both Voyager and Mariner's absences to the fullest," Justice lets out an excited smile, "Don't worry. We won't waste time in terrorizing city into bowing underneath you and His Almightiness The World. The Kamikiri, our next agent, is ready in the wings. Heck, when the Swallowtail's back, maybe we'll ask him to join him as well."

"Excellent," Rin nodded, an evil smile appearing on her face, "I'll be taking a shower for a while. After that, we're going out for lunch."

Both Tower and Justice nodded in unison, as Rin left her office, whistling a tune to herself along the way…

 **xxx**

 _ **Ho Chi Minh City Police Department Headquarters, District 1**_

Professor Truoc has been holed up in his personal office the moment Khanh Linh has dismissed everyone after the hostage situation at the AIRC was resolved. Located above the MCU's temporary headquarters, it was a small and neat room, painted in a neutral white. A Macbook Pro was present on the room's desk, while several whiteboards were plastered across the room's walls, all of them littered with a variety of mathematical equations. The words " **Maojins? Who are they? What they really are? How do they work?** " were also written on the whiteboards, along with a larger " **MAOJIN CARDS?** " written in capital letters on the whiteboard above Professor Truoc's Macbook.

Speaking about the good professor, he was now fixed in front of his Macbook, researching screenshots from the news broadcast of the battle between Voyager and Mariner that he had taken earlier. The screenshots depicted the two Riders using a variety of Maojin Cards to unlock their power, Mariner's Pelagic Barracuda which gives her super speed, Voyager's Hurricane Eagle that enabled him to shift into his Hurricane Form, as well as the two cards that Mariner used for her ArmTrans.

Professor Truoc's Macbook also contained footages of Voyager's battles downloaded from the SIG website, which the professor had spent time watching and re-watching them in order to understand how Voyager tick. So far, Professor Truoc has concluded that the Maojin Cards were the source of Voyager's powers, and that his ScanDriver was an important device to channel those cards' powers. However, the professor still needed to know what's the secret behind a Maojin Card, other than being the sealed form of a Maojin, that is. Professor Truoc felt that acquiring a Maojin Card for his research is the closest thing that he would get in researching a body of a Maojin itself, as it would help him greatly in his greater goal of helping the MCU in understanding what they're going up against, as well as developing anti-Maojin weapons that'll surely allow the MCU to gain equal footing with both the Maojins and the Kamen Riders.

"Fascinating, these cards whenever inserted into a slot on the bodies of these Riders, they'll either grant them with a new form, a new weapon, or a new ability, thus enabling them to have an advantage over an opponent…" Professor Truoc wondered aloud as he inspected the screenshots thoroughly, "I wonder where could I get one of these for my research…"

Suddenly an idea struck Professor Truoc's head. Quickly he grabbed his iPhone and dialed Leo's number.

"Lieutenant Leo, it's Professor Truoc," Professor Truoc said, "Do you have a moment? I needed your help with something…"

 **xxx**

 _ **Steffi's apartment**_

"Are you sure you can walk your way into the apartment?"

"I'm sure. I've been through worse."

"You have broken ribs, internal bruising on your back, and your right leg's quite jacked up. Are you sure?"

"Like I said, I've been through worse."

The checkup at the hospital revealed that despite all the beating that Krishna received from Mariner, he only escaped with slight injuries, and he was sent home with a packet of prescription meds and was told to not force himself for a couple of days. Leo, Hako, and Thy all went back to the HCMCPD, so Steffi, Kim, and Vy took Krishna back home, with Karin taking care of the young man's motorcycle.

Krishna limped slightly out of Kim's car with Steffi and Vy following him, before Kim set off to park her car in the apartment's parking lot.

"I still can't believe that Le Thao Minh is the new Mariner," Steffi said, causing a look of sadness to overtook Krishna's face, "But then again, she probably had inherited Mariner's powers from her late father…"

"Neither do I," Krishna replied rather somberly, "And now she's out there trying to kill me…"

Looking upwards and closing his eyes, Krishna reminiscence the better times that he had with Minh and her family. The time he teased her every morning over breakfast. The time he had beaten her in Monopoly. The time he told her about his stories from around the world before bedtime. The time he helped her with her homework. And the time they watched a Premier League match between Chelsea and Newcastle United together, with Krishna supporting Chelsea and Minh supporting Newcastle. Without him realizing it, a drop of tear rolled out from Krishna's left eye.

"Krishna?" Steffi called, "You okay?"

"I've lost her, have I?" Krishna suddenly said, wiping away his tears as he said so, "Minh was like a dear little sister that I never had…and we shared so many great memories together. And now…she no longer thought of me as a brother…but as some cold-blooded murderer who had ruined her family…"

And with that, Krishna quickly went inside the apartment, sobbing quietly as he slammed the door shut. Steffi and Vy were left speechless, but deeply concerned for their friend's wellbeing.

"His physical injuries were the least of his problems…" Steffi said, "It's his state of mind that needed some patching up. To believe, someone who Krishna had cared deeply for…is out to murder him…I don't think I could live with that fact if I were him."

"True," Vy nodded, "I too would spiral into depression if my family and best friends suddenly decided that they wanted me dead…it's up to us to fix him, huh?"

"Yeah. How about we have a pizza party tomorrow morning?"

"That's a good idea!" Vy exclaimed, "Pizza is the cure to almost everything."

"Who doesn't love pizza," Steffi chuckled, "C'mon, let's go inside and plan the whole damn thing! Let's make this as cheerful as possible to brighten up Krishna's mood, shall we?"

Both Steffi and Vy went into the apartment, the two of them buzzing in planning the perfect pizza party to cheer up Krishna. Unknown to them, perched on the apartment's mailbox, was a peculiar-looking crow with three legs, a letter attached to its right talon…

 **xxx**

 _ **The next morning**_

Steffi, Vy, and Kim were busy preparing for the morning's pizza party at the apartment's dining room, with Karin even pitching in to help. Krishna was nowhere to be seen though, as the young man had practically shut himself in his room ever since they came back yesterday. While Steffi was ordering pizza on the phone, Kim was busy arranging the plates and glasses, having bought a large bottle of Coca-Cola yesterday. Vy was hanging up decorations on the ceiling, while Karin blew and created a number of balloon animals. The Arcana Maojin was surprisingly good with them, as within five minutes she had created a giraffe, an elephant, a dog, and a cat, much to the amazement of everyone else.

"So, what did you ordered?" Kim asked after Steffi had finished ordering the pizza.

"One large Super Supreme and one large Meat Lovers," Steffi replied as she helped Kim with the plates, "Apparently they're having a buy one get one free promo there, so we've gotten ourselves two pizza for the price of one, a free salad, and a large bottle of Coke."

"Shit," Kim cursed, slapping her forehead in dismay, "Should I've known such a promo exist, I wouldn't have gone out and bought ourselves a large bottle of Coke yesterday!"

Steffi chuckled, "Nah, it's alright. Krishna's a huge drinker anyway, so we'll probably need that second bottle."

Around half an hour later, the preparation was complete. Multicolored streamers and pennants were placed on the walls of the room, with Karin's balloon animals being scattered all over the dining table, the kitchen, and the living room. The dining table was neatly set-up with plates being arranged neatly on top of a pearly white tablecloth that Steffi had washed for the occasion, glasses standing perfectly near the plates, and the cutlery being arranged with such precision next to the plates. And last but not least, the complete 9 seasons of _How I Met Your Mother_ DVD set was laid out on the living room's coffee table, the disc for the first season of the sitcom already inside the apartment's DVD player with the TV displaying the disc's main menu.

All that's left was the pizza.

A chime was heard from the door, prompting Steffi to open it. Standing outside the apartment was a young man clad in the familiar red and black uniform of Pizza Hut, a large plastic bag on his person.

"What's poppin', dudettes?" the young man greeted in a stereotypical surfer dude's accent, "Is this like, the residence of Pham Vu To Quyen?"

"I'm Pham Vu To Quyen," Steffi replied.

"Radical, dudette. Here's your one Super Supreme, one Meat Lovers, one salad, and one large bottle of Coca-Cola."

"Thanks," Steffi said as she accepted the plastic bag from the pizza delivery man, "How much is it?"

"Like, 150.000 Vietnamese Dong," the delivery man replied.

"Here you go," Steffi said, paying the man 200.000 Vietnamese Dong that she had prepared earlier.

"Gnarly. The change would be like, 50.000 Vietnamese Dong," the man said, handing Steffi the change, "And like, one last thing, dudettes."

"What is it?"

"Can you like; get rid of that crow on your mailbox? It's like, been staring at me ever since I came here. Not gnarly at all, dudette, that crow's like, creeping me out, I mean like, it has three legs, totally creepy. Can you like, at least shoo it away? That would be extremely radical."

"What three-legged crow?" suddenly Krishna came out of his room, having heard the conversation from inside it, "Can I see it?"

"Whoa dude, like chill. Sure thing."

Immediately Krishna rushed towards the apartment's mailbox, with Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Karin following him. The pizza delivery man, clueless on whatever's happening, shrugged his shoulders as he nonchalantly left the apartment.

True to the pizza delivery man's words, there was a crow perched on top of the apartment's mailbox. Unlike most crows, it has three legs, with the one on the right having a small letter attached to it. Immediately Krishna recognized the crow upon seeing it.

"The Yatagarasu!" Krishna exclaimed, "It's been a while."

"You idiot, I've been standing here for hours and you've just came out to see me now?!" the crow, named Yatagarasu, scolded Krishna almost immediately out of irritation.

"Sorry, I have a lot of things in my mind right now," Krishna chuckled sheepishly, just as Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Karin came.

"Holy shit, a talking crow!" Steffi gawked, "Is it a cryptid? And why is Krishna talking to it?"

"That's no ordinary crow," Karin said, surprising the three young women, "It's the Yatagarasu."

"Yata…what?" Kim blinked.

"The Yatagarasu," Karin replied, "In Japanese mythology, his appearance signals the arrival of divine intervention in the lives of mankind. The Yatagarasu was revered as a god of guidance by the Japanese. But if he's here, that means…"

"Again, sorry!" Krishna said sheepishly after he had taken the letter from the Yatagarasu's right talon, the three-legged crow flying off afterwards.

"What was that about?" Kim asked.

"I've got a letter from an old friend of mine," Krishna answered, opening the letter before reading the letter's opening greeting aloud, "Dear Krishna, why haven't you written to me in 80 years! Okay, what the fuck."

Krishna proceeded to silently read the letter, before his eyes went wider than a hippo's mouth when it's yawning.

"What's wrong?" Vy asked.

"Karin, we need to go to the airport. ASAP," Krishna said as he ran into the apartment, before coming out seconds afterwards with his leather jacket over his pajamas.

"Are you sure you want to go to Tan Son Nhat looking like _**that**_?" Steffi asked, "And are you sure you want to go there now? We've bought you pizza for breakfast."

"Yes, I'm sure," Krishna replied, "And it's because I'm horribly late. A friend of mine's coming to Ho Chi Minh City and her flight had probably arrived here! Shit, I should have noticed the Yatagarasu earlier! Karin, let's go!"

Karin nodded, transforming herself into her card form as she flew into Krishna's jacket pocket. Wasting no time, Krishna immediately ran out towards the apartment's parking lot, surprising both Leo and Professor Truoc who were coming to Steffi's apartment at the same time.

"What's got into him?" Leo asked, which Professor Truoc replied with a shrug.

"Bro? What are you doing here?" Steffi asked as she saw Leo and Professor Truoc in front of them.

"Ah, good morning girls," Leo greeted, "There's someone who would like to meet you all."

Leo then gestured to Professor Truoc to introduce himself, which the professor replied with a nod.

"Good morning. My name is Professor Pham Van Truoc, I'm working for the Maojin Counter Unit as their main researcher. And I was wondering whether you girls could do me a favor."

"What favor?" Steffi asked.

"I would like you girls to borrow one of Kamen Rider Voyager's Maojin Cards for me."

Immediately Steffi, Kim, and Vy gasped out in surprise, "What?"

 **xxx**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **xxx**

 **Next time, on Kamen Rider Voyager, episode 6 – Showdown! Voyager vs. Mariner**

Minh has given Krishna three days to prepare himself for round two of Voyager vs. Mariner, hoping that the young man would give her the fair and honorable fight that she desired. However, the fact that Minh was the new Kamen Rider Mariner has weighed on Krishna considerably, with the young man still unable to accept that the young girl that he had considered as his own beloved sister had grown up into a vengeful young woman out for his blood. This period of depression has lead Krishna to spend his time reading Rei's short story instead of preparing himself for the upcoming duel. Will the arrival of Krishna's old friend from Japan and Rei's short story give him the morale boost that he needed the most in time for the duel? Kamen Rider Voyager vs. Kamen Rider Mariner, it's time to settle things once and for all!

 _ **Part of a mini crossover event with RdfAng's Kamen Rider Kagura**_

 **xxx**

 **Maojin Card of the Day**

 **Hover Hummingbird**

 **Class:** Five of Wands

 **Tribe:** Wind

 **Properties:** Enables Voyager to summon a pair of green holographic wings made out of energy, which will attach on the Rider's back. These wings will give Voyager the ability to hover in the sky for an unlimited amount of time just like a hummingbird, enabling him to evade attacks while at the same time plan out and execute new ones from an extreme altitude. When used in conjunction with an Overcharge Card, this will enable Voyager to perform Overcharges from high altitudes, which will increase the damage inflicted considerably.

 **Maojin of the Day**

 **Swallowtail Maojin**

 **Class:** Three of Shields

 **Tribe:** Thunder

 **Motif:** Swallowtail butterfly

 **Host:** Axeleander Juvilius Teguh (Axel)

 **Abilities:** flight, firing purple bolts of electricity from his fingers, and spreading purple glitter from his wings that would electrocute anyone that the glitter came into contact with. He is also armed with a pair of daggers, which he could charge with purple electricity to enhance his slashes with them. When fully charged, these daggers can be used to fire off purple energy slashes.

 **Destroyed by:** Kamen Rider Kagura Rain Form's Rain Rending and the Jet Maobarracuda's Rage of the Imperial Tsunami (Voyager Chapter 6)

 **xxx**

 **A/N: And that's it for chapter 5 of** _ **Kamen Rider Voyager**_ **! In case you were wondering, TBA means To Be Announced, and I will fill in on how that Maojin will be destroyed once I've written the story that has the Maojin's defeat in it along with the chapter where the Maojin was defeated in brackets, for example:**

 **Destroyed by: Kamen Rider Voyager Thunder Form's Lightning Smash (insert chapter in which the Maojin was defeated here)**

 **I'll be doing this for Maojins of the Days who were part of a two or multi-parter arc.**

 **Anyway, quick news – I'm currently writing a mini-crossover with RdfAng, the author of** _ **Kamen Rider Kagura**_ **! Check out his story – it's amazing. Basically** _ **Kagura**_ **chapter 10 and** _ **Voyager**_ **chapter 5 serve as the build-up to the mini-crossover event. Keep your eyes peeled for both stories to catch up with this incredible event!**

 **Anyway, don't forget to leave your kind reviews and as usual, no flames! I would really appreciate it if you also add this story to your favorites and your following list :D**

 **maxpower02, signing out!**


	6. Showdown! Voyager vs Mariner

**A/N: What's up guys, maxpower02 here. Sorry for the long wait for the new chapter. Two things: first of all, real life has been quite harsh on me. I had a lot of assignments at my university, ranging from group meetings, group work, and essays. That, and combined with my shifts at my part-time job, made me almost unable to save up ample time to continue on my story. Secondly, this chapter is quite long. And by long, I mean REALLY long. It is jampacked with action left, right, and center, and as a result, it's literally TWICE the length of my usual chapters. My friend suggested me to split it into two parts, but I felt that'll force me to retcon a few things on the previous chapter, plus the action in this chapter's quite continuous. I've already have the next few chapters planned up, and I felt that if I split this chapter into two, it'll slightly mess up my plans.**

 **However, with the amount of fighting that this chapter has as well as the ongoing mystery that was left off from the previous chapter, I'm pretty sure that this chapter will be worth the wait! And as a quick warning, at the end of this chapter there will be a slightly graphic description of a scene, so readers' discretion is advised.**

 **Right, let's roll on chapter 6! Also shout out for dfox300 aka RdfAng, a huge thank you for him for allowing me to use his OC Rider, Kamen Rider Kagura, for this chapter of the story! In case you did not get how Kagura ended up in this chapter, please read** _ **Kamen Rider Kagura**_ **chapter 11 beforehand, since that and this chapter as well as the upcoming chapter of** _ **Kagura**_ **are part of a mini-crossover event that we're having.**

 **Disclaimers time!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, TOEI does.**

 **xxx**

 **Previously, on Kamen Rider Voyager**

 _A series of attacks on several Lotus Industries-owned facilities has attracted the attention of both the SIG and the MCU, however Krishna was strangely reluctant to get to the bottom of it, due to him still trying to get over the fact that the company's founder and a dear friend of his, Le Ngoc Duy aka Eric, had died while he was in his travels. A chance meeting with Minh, Eric's daughter and another dear old friend of Krishna's, changed his mind however, and he decided to investigate the attacks alongside the SIG. Meanwhile, desperate to seek answers behind her father's death, Minh had decided to follow Star's advice and team up with the Swallowtail Maojin, the very Maojin who had attacked her company's facilities, in hopes that she could use the Maojin to lure out Voyager._

 _However, the plan quickly went awry as the Swallowtail Maojin inexplicably attacked the AIRC, the Lotus Industries' Artificial Intelligence Research Center, on the same day that Ngan's class is having a field trip there. Taking Ngan and her classmates hostage, the Swallowtail Maojin did his part in luring out Voyager, thus allowing Mariner to interfere and have the very confrontation that she wanted. However, Voyager was taken aback by the fact that Minh and Mariner were one and the same, thus preventing him from fighting to his full potential. Realizing that there's no honor in fighting an opponent who's not committed to their battle, Minh gave Krishna three days to recover and prepare himself for a one-on-one duel between them, a duel that will decide everything._

 _Unknown to Minh, Ngan had been watching the entire fight from the sidelines, and she was horrified by the fact that her older sister had apparently set up the entire chain of events that happened to Ngan just to have her fight with Krishna…_

 **xxx**

"What the fuck were you thinking?!"

Minh slammed Axel against the walls of her office, her hands tightly gripping the Indonesian's collar. Despite this rough treatment, Axel looked surprisingly calm, his face letting out a mocking smirk even.

"What was I thinking? What do you mean by that, Ms. Minh?"

"Don't play dumb on me. Attacking the AIRC and taking my sister and her class hostage?! That's not part of the fucking plan."

Axel chuckled, "Ms. Minh, wasn't our plan to lure out Voyager is to have me attack a Lotus Industries-owned facility and hope that Voyager would come to the scene as usual to save the day and have him fight you instead of me?"

"And your point is?"

"I've done everything according to our plan, Ms. Minh, following each and every one of its letter and down to its last full stop. I've also been quite frank in this plan of ours…the only thing that I did not tell you is _**which**_ Lotus Industries facility that I'm going to attack. Your sister and her friends happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Why you…"

"What are you guys doing?"

Minh was about to punch the daylights out of Axel when she was interrupted by Thao and Tran standing on her office's doorstep.

"Minh, are you doing what I think you're doing?" Thao asked again.

"Oh, it's not like that, Thao," Minh said sheepishly, releasing her grip on Axel who also had an awkward look on his face, "We're having…a discussion! Just having a friendly, work-related discussion between the two of us. Isn't that right?"

"Yeeaaaah," Axel nodded uneasily, "It's not what you girls think."

Thao sighed. After the whole mess at the AIRC, Minh had told Thao about the plan of luring Voyager into fighting her by using a Maojin as bait on their way back to the LIT, something that shocked Thao quite considerably. However, Thao had no idea that the Maojin in question was right in front of her eyes at this very moment.

"Right. Sorry for interrupting your discussion, but I have something urgent to tell Minh."

"What is it?" Minh asked as Axel tided up his messed-up collar and shirt.

Thao showed Minh a small brown envelope, "I've written the letter that you've requested, regarding your rematch with Voyager."

"Excellent," Minh smiled, "Fire up our car, we're going to deliver that letter to him right away. I'm feeling like taking the Lexus today, what do you think?"

"Nice choice. We haven't used the Lexus in quite a while and I think that it's been collecting enough dust already. I'll warm up the engine for you."

"Much appreciated. Thanks."

As Thao left the office for the LIT's underground parking lot, Minh turned her attention back to Axel.

"I'm going out for a while," Minh told the Indonesian, "You're free to leave whenever you want. I'll ask Tran here to escort you out."

Minh then exited the office, but not before shooting out one last threatening and distrusting glare at Axel. Axel replied the glare with a glare of his own as well, a glare of betrayal and disgust. After Minh had left, immediately Axel closed the office's door shut, before bowing respectfully in front of Tran much to the young woman's bewilderment.

"Eh?" Tran blinked at the sight of Axel bowing in front of her, "What are you doing?"

" _ **Let me handle this**_."

Immediately Tran's eyes glowed orange, a sign that Star had taken over her body and mind.

" _ **Excellent work, Three of Shields,**_ " Tran complimented the bowing Axel, " _ **You have managed to execute your part of our plan perfectly. Voyager took the bait well and he was handed a beating of a lifetime by Mariner. Such a shame that her pride and honor prevented her from finishing him off, but at least we have a rematch to look forward to.**_ "

"But that ungrateful wench treated me like utter crap," Axel snorted, "After all the hard work that I've done, she repaid me by tossing me aside like yesterday's garbage and shooing me out of the fight when I could have assisted her?!"

" _ **Granted you did a huge mistake by putting her sister in danger and knowing that her sister is the only family that she has, Mariner would do anything for the sake of her safety. However, because you've successfully made Voyager and Mariner fight each other, I'm going to overlook that error of yours.**_ "

"Thank you, Star of the Darkness Tribe. Your kindness as an Arcana has touched me."

Tran smirked at Axel's grateful words, " _ **Don't mention it. Our plan might have been delayed for at least a few days…but I have confidence in Mariner. Her vengeance over her father's undeserving death has made her a force to be reckoned with and even though her pride and honor as a warrior had restricted her, I believe that in their rematch, Mariner will surely tear Voyager apart.**_ _**It is up to us to respect her wishes and let them fight each other interrupted…until one of them goes down, that is.**_ "

"So, what are we going to do next?" Axel asked.

Still displaying that evil smirk of hers after hearing Axel's question, Tran immediately transformed into Star, conjuring the Destruction Blade in his hands. The Arcana Maojin then swiftly created a portal of darkness with his weapon, before gesturing Axel to come with him into the portal.

"Let's continue somewhere else," Star said, before pointing his Destruction Blade at the corner of the office room, "If we stay here for too long, Minh and Thao would get suspicious. Besides, you need to continue your rest and recuperation process in my dimension after all that you've been through yesterday."

Axel glanced towards where Star had pointed his weapon, and saw a security camera recording every activity that's happening inside the room.

"What should we do about that?" Axel asked.

"You're the security camera specialist here, go figure it out for yourself," Star replied, before bursting out into chuckles the moment Axel shot a rather reluctant look at him, "Just kidding. It's okay, I'll handle that camera for you. No need to worry…"

Feeling assured, Axel followed Star into the portal, the portal closing up moments afterwards. And true to Star's words, shortly after the portal had closed up, the office's security camera began to emit some sparks, its recorded footage being turned into static. Seconds afterwards the footage displaying Axel and Star inside the office was deleted, and was replaced by a footage displaying the empty office room…

 **xxx**

 _ **Underneath the Xich Quy Joint Stock Company Headquarters, Phu My Hung Urban Area, District 7**_

Star's darkness portal opened up on the walls of a spacious, dimly-lit cavern located underneath the Xich Quy Joint Stock Company Headquarters building. Stepping out of the portal, Star and Axel were greeted by the sight of the Thunder Tribe Arcanas hanging out in the cavern, which has been transformed into a makeshift living quarters. Death was seen playing billiard by herself on a pool table set up in the cavern, while Tower was seen lazing around on a small, worn-looking foldable bed. Justice, on the other hand, was sitting at a small dining table in the heart of the cavern, with a young woman dressed in a bartender's uniform on another chair next to the Arcana Maojin. The young woman was bound and gagged, her hands tied together tightly by ropes while her mouth was covered by a white cloth. The woman's body was tied to the chair by even more ropes, with the young woman struggling to free herself from her restraints. The young woman was average in build, with a relatively short height, fair complexion, and shoulder-length auburn hair with a bang over her forehead. Freckles can be clearly seen on the woman's face.

"Greetings everyone," Star greeted as he entered the cavern with Axel in tow, before he noticed the young woman next to Justice, "Who's that?"

"Some random girl that we picked up from a bar that we visited," Tower answered, lazily standing up from his bed, "We've managed to fry almost everyone there apart from that girl. Apparently when Death picked us up, Justice noticed her hiding inside the coatroom, waiting for her shift that never came. We were in a hurry, so I had the initiative to kill her right there on the spot. But for some reason Justice said that this girl could provide us with some use…if it weren't for Death's knotting skills we would have wasted our time trying to knock that girl out!"

"I did what I had to do," Death chimed in as she shot a ball with her cue stick, "Apparently Tower's little stunt earlier today had attracted some unwanted attention to us."

"What stunt?" Star asked.

"It's a long story," Justice replied, before he proceeded to rummage the struggling girl's pockets, taking out a wallet from her uniform pocket after a few seconds of searching. Justice then tossed the wallet to Star, who examined it out of curiosity.

"Vu Thi Phuc Hau, 20-years old," Star read out the woman's ID aloud, before closing the wallet and tossing it back to Justice, "And why does this girl interest you so much to the point of almost compromising your fellow Arcanas, Justice?"

Justice smirked, taking out a Maojin Card from his tuxedo's pocket as he does so. The card was a Thunder Tribe card, based on the purple line on its left hand side, however unlike most Maojin Cards; it lacked the lettering usually emblazoned on the line as well as the unique number superimposed on a Maojin Tribe's symbol that was usually engraved on the gunmetal gray backside of the card. The card depicted an Asian long-horned beetle perched on a tree bark.

"Our Kamikiri had caused a significant amount of destruction today," Justice said, "That is, until someone put an end to it."

"Was it Voyager?" Star asked, "Did he engage your Maojin in order to prepare himself for his upcoming rematch with Mariner?"

"Ah, so those two are going to fight again? Interesting," Justice stroked his chin, apparently intrigued by this turn of events.

"However, Voyager was not the one who had defeated our comrade," Tower added, "It was…another warrior."

"Another warrior?" Star asked, clearly surprised by Tower's words.

Tower nodded, "Yes, another warrior. Some Japanese fox monster calling herself Kagura. We have no idea on how powerful she is, but what we do know, that she has the ability to separate a Maojin from its host with that attack of hers, meaning that she's no laughing matter."

"I see. She could become a significant threat to us one day…it is best that she's silenced once and for all before she could become too much of a threat for us," Star said, "However, we should not forget about the upcoming rematch between Voyager and Mariner. The two biggest threats to our existence…going up against one another in a battle to the death. Mariner told me that we should not interfere in the rematch as it would tarnish the sanctity of the battle and I believe we should respect that…until one of them falls, that is."

"What do you have in mind?" Tower asked.

"Justice, if I'm not mistaken…you're going to use that girl as the Kamikiri's new host, aren't you?"

"Took the words out of my mouth," Justice chuckled, "As witty as ever, Star."

"Excellent. What we're going to do here is wait until either Voyager or Mariner got too injured to continue fighting, before we send in both the Swallowtail and the Kamikiri together in order to take out the other one. That way, the two biggest threats to us Maojins will be out of the picture in a single swoop, one from rematch, and the other one from our ambush. Alternatively, those two would become too weakened to fight back from our surprise attack and the Swallowtail and the Kamikiri double-teaming them should done the job quite nicely."

"But Star, didn't you say that we must respect Mariner's wishes to not interfere with the rematch?" Justice asked.

Star bursts out into laughter, "As much as Mariner valued her pride and honor as a warrior highly, she's merely a tool in my plans. And once a tool had outlived its usefulness, that tool shall be thrown away into the garbage."

"I like the sound of that," Tower smirked, before suddenly he realized something, "But what about that Kagura fox monster?"

"Once we've taken out both Voyager and Mariner, we'll take out this Kagura as well. I believe two of our kind should be enough to overwhelm Kagura."

"Oh yes," Axel smacked his lips in excitement, "I can't wait to exact my revenge on that ungrateful wench for the way she treated me after everything that I've done for her!"

"Now, now, let's not get too over ourselves, we must be patient," Star told Axel, "So the plan is settled. The Swallowtail and the Kamikiri shall oversee the rematch between Voyager and Mariner, and they will ambush them when the time's right. Afterwards, we'll deal with Kagura."

"Sounds good enough for me," Tower nodded, before turning his attention towards Justice, "So, shall we start?"

Justice nodded, standing up from his seat with the Kamikiri Maojin's card in his hand. Glancing at the card and the struggling Hau, an evil smirk appeared on Justice's face, before the Arcana Maojin quickly slammed the card against Hau's chest. The young woman immediately lets out a muffled cry of pain as purple energies began to surge into her body, her eyes flashing a purplish glow. Glowing purple veins began to appear on Hau's skin as the young woman's thrashing became more and more violent. Within seconds a blinding purple glow had overtaken the poor bartender's body, before the glow died out quickly to reveal the Kamikiri Maojin, refreshed and rejuvenated. Roaring aloud in delight, the Kamikiri Maojin easily broke free from his restraints, snapping the ropes restraining him and shattering the chair where his human host had sat.

Smirking in delight, Axel's eyes glowed purple, his entire body following suit. Within seconds Axel transformed into the Swallowtail Maojin in a burst of purple energy, letting out an excited laugh as he joined the Kamikiri Maojin. Both Tower and Justice let out jubilant smiles at their two underlings' eagerness, while Star lets out a pleased chuckle.

"It's good to be back," the Kamikiri Maojin said, cracking his neck twice, "So, we're going to be partners, huh?"

"That's right," replied the Swallowtail Maojin, "Together, we will ensure the end of those who dare to oppose us! Especially that ungrateful wench Mariner!"

"I just can't wait to tear that fucking Kagura apart," the Kamikiri Maojin punched his palm several times, "That bitch had humiliated me…and I can't wait to see her head rolling on the ground."

"Easy there," Star interrupted, patting the Kamikiri Maojin on the shoulder, "You will have your chance. But first, let's wait until the day of the rematch…and wait for our moment to shine."

And with that Star, the Swallowtail Maojin, and the Kamikiri Maojin all laughed evilly, their laughter echoing throughout the cavern. Both Tower and Justice joined in as well, while Death looked somewhat uneasy, gripping her cue stick tightly from the sidelines…

 **xxx**

 _ **KAMEN RIDER VOYAGER**_

 **Episode 6:** **Showdown! Voyager vs. Mariner**

 **OP: Eiyuu no Uta – THE ALFEE**

 **xxx**

 _ **The next day**_

 _ **Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong Expressway**_

Thao carefully drove her old burgundy Proton Saga LMST through the crowded Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong Expressway, which was still recovering from the Kamikiri Maojin's attack the previous day. Crane trucks were seen picking up the wreckages of the vehicles that fell victim to the Maojin's wrath, with traffic officers asking drivers on the expressway to drive carefully so that the crane trucks would perform their work smoothly without interruption. The combination of the wreckages still lying on the expressway, the crane trucks clearing them away, traffic officers directing vehicles around the crane trucks and wreckages, as well as the morning's heavy traffic has caused a significant traffic jam to occur on the Ho Chi Minh City – Truong Luong Expressway, with all 6-lanes of it packed with vehicles going to and from the city.

For Minh, this was the first time that she had travelled with Thao's own car as opposed to one of the many cars that she had in her collection and the differences were quite stark. Thao had taken her time to take care of Minh's collection so much, she sometimes forgot to take care of her own car, as indicated by the thin layer of dust gathering on both the car's exterior and interior. The air conditioner's slightly broken, forcing Minh to open her window a bit to let some fresh air in, while the engine has been creating a series of creaking noises much to Minh's concern. However, Thao did assure her before they go that after their trip, Thao's going to bring her car to a service center to have it fixed up, which was something that slightly relieved Minh's worries.

Thao's dilapidated car was not the biggest concern in Minh's mind right now, though.

The past 24 hours has been quite intense for Minh, starting off with Ngan refusing to answer her calls, Axel being surprisingly nonchalant and playing innocent about his stunt in taking Ngan and her class hostage, before being capped off by Minh being dragged out of her car by some Japanese fox-girl who accused her of deliberately using Ngan as bait in her fight against Voyager.

Minh sighed as she remembered that encounter in front of Steffi's apartment. She was just accompanying Thao in delivering the letter regarding her rematch with Voyager when all of a sudden, this Japanese girl came out of nowhere, broke her car window, dragged her out of her car, and slammed her against a nearby wall. Her brute strength indicated that she wasn't human, along with the fact that she had foxlike features on her body and blue flames all around her. Then that fox-girl went ahead and accused her of using Ngan for the sake of her fight against Voyager.

Ngan was the only family that Minh had after the death of her parents and hurting her was the last thing on her mind. Knowing that Axel as the Swallowtail Maojin had used Ngan and her classmates as bait for her plan was bad enough and the fact that the Japanese fox-girl had flat out accused her of deliberately using Ngan as bait added more to the pain.

" _So that's why Ngan did not want me to either call or visit her yesterday…_ " Minh thought up sadly as she stared out of the car window, clearly feeling bad on what had happened, " _I knew that I shouldn't have trusted that Maojin straight away…but Star did guarantee that the plan he had would work…_ "

"Minh, you okay?" Thao called out, noticing her friend's somber expression from her rear-view mirror, "Should I put some music to cheer you up?"

"Sure," Minh nodded, "I mean, this traffic jam's the worst, right? It's good to have some music to pass the time. What do you have in mind?"

"I only have Kasabian albums in this car," Thao replied, "Which one should I play? _Kasabian_? _West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum_? _48:13_? _For Crying Out Loud_?"

"Any album would do," Minh said, "I'm not a big fan of Kasabian anyway…so I won't be bothered by whichever album that you're playing."

"Right, _West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum_ it is."

Reaching for her glovebox, Thao picked up the album in question before opening it, inserting the disc into the Proton's CD player. Seconds afterwards the familiar instrumentals from the first song of the album, _Underdog_ , was heard from the car's stereo system.

" _ **Heal me if you dare, hold my head up everywhere, keep myself right on this train…**_ "

As Tom Meighan's vocals echoed inside the car, Thao slowly hummed a tune to herself as she clearly enjoyed the music from her favorite band, while Minh stared out of her window, once again drowning herself in her thoughts, recalling the events that occurred yesterday…

" _You really don't know anything, do you? Drop the title of Kamen Rider, Mariner. You may be telling the truth, but you don't deserve to bear the title anyway…_ "

To be honest Minh was quite surprised when that fox-girl said that, even though she had already told the fox-girl that she did not know anything about the Swallowtail Maojin taking Ngan and her class hostage. Most would have scoffed that off and say that Minh was just looking for some excuses, but for some reason that fox-girl believed her straight away, without Minh having to present more evidence or explain in more depth.

And regarding the title of Kamen Rider…Minh had to admit that she did not adopt that title for a long time, having taken the title during her encounter with Krishna and the others in the sewer the other day. But for some reason…she felt that if her father had adopted the title during his tenure as Mariner, he would have used it with pride and treated it as a personal honor of his. It was a name that signified the armor itself, a warrior of justice, savior of mankind, just like her father had been when he was alive. And to have that fox-girl telling her to drop the title altogether because of what she did…Minh felt that her actions had betrayed the title that she had just taken. If he was still alive, her father would have been disappointed at her.

" _My father has always taught me about pride, honor, and respect as well as how to uphold them. He taught me not to strike down a weakened opponent, not to use someone weaker than you or someone defenseless to your personal advantage, not to attack someone defenseless, not to strike someone from the back, and to always respect your opponent. And by putting Ngan in danger…knowingly or not, it means that I've broken one of the most important rules of honorable combat that my father has taught me…_ " Minh lamented as she looked at the clouds above, remembering the words that the fox-girl had told her yesterday, " _Gosh…dad would be so disappointed in me if he found out about this…_ "

And as Minh went deeper and deeper into her thoughts, the words of the Yatagarasu, who had intervened to prevent the fox-girl from laying waste on her, began to echo in her mind…

" _As of now, you walk a dark path made of unfounded hatred. But you still have the chance to turn around. I recommend that you think carefully about the decisions that you will make in the future, as well as who you ought to trust. If I'm not wrong…you've made your judgement on only half the story, didn't you?_ "

Those words took Minh aback. It was true that her vendetta towards Voyager started because of a single testimony…from Tran. Tran Phuong Trang, the sole survivor of the ambush that took the life of Minh and Ngan's father, Le Ngoc Duy aka Eric. This made Minh wonder – should she keep on trusting Star's judgement? He, after all, was the one who had saved Tran from the ambush and had protected her all this time, to the point of holding off the young woman's brain cancer to allow Eric and his Lotus Industries medical team to figure out a way to cure her from it. But at the same time, should she allow Krishna to give her his side of the story? Perhaps it'll give her a clearer insight on who actually murdered Eric.

" _After all, no matter how guilty a criminal is, he or she should be allowed to defend themselves in court…_ " Minh thought to herself, recalling all of those episodes of _Law and Order_ , _Law and Order: Special Victims Unit_ , and _Law and Order: Criminal Intent_ that she used to watch together with her father when she was younger, " _Maybe that Yatagarasu guy was right. If I really wanted to avenge my father's death, I should at least allow Krishna to give out his side of the story…_ "

"Come on! Move, dammit!" Thao cursed, pressing on the car's horn repeatedly to urge the bus in front of her to move as Kasabian's _Fast Fuse_ was played on the stereo.

" _ **So come get me! All you fuckers can't touch me! I'm a hooligan choir, sire, sit don't scatter, it don't matter, get me one! Two! Three!**_ "

Normally a song that fast-paced would rile someone up, but not for Minh. Instead, she slowly closed her eyes, as her mind slowly remembered the last time she saw her father…

 **xxx**

 _ **Two years ago**_

 _ **LIT Penthouse**_

 _It was a dark, stormy night, with Ho Chi Minh City experiencing one of its worst torrential downpours in recent history. At the warm safe comfort of the LIT Penthouse, Minh was busy doing her school homework in her room, while Thao was watching TV on the living room. Ngan, on the other hand, was fast asleep on Minh's room, the two girls having shared the room together. Both Tran and Eric were not at the penthouse, as they were visiting a Lotus Industries-affiliated hospital in order to check on the progression of the former's cancer._

 _A ding was heard from the penthouse elevator, prompting Thao to quickly stood up to greet whoever's coming through it. But to her horror, what came inside was a bloodied athletic man in his 40s, his short black hair all roughed up while blood stains were scattered all over his blue T-shirt. On his shoulder was an unconscious Tran, who looked slightly bruised but otherwise unharmed._

" _Minh!" Thao called out as she rushed towards the two, "Come and help me!"_

 _Minh quickly ran out of her room and immediately gasped in horror as she saw Thao helping the man lay Tran on the ground, before the man himself collapsed on his back next to her. Instantly recognizing the man as Eric, her father, Minh immediately rushed towards her father's side._

" _Dad!" Minh called out, her eyes widening in shock as she saw the multitude of stab wounds littering Eric's body, with a large and horrific-looking gaping wound present on the right side of the man's abdomen, "What happened?!"_

" _We…we got ambushed," Eric coughed out blood, trying to muster the strength to talk to his daughter, "W-e…w-ere…on..o-ur…w-ay…to..the…h-o-s-p-ital…when…some-one…attack..ed…us…out..of..no-where…"_

" _Dad, hang in there!" Minh cried out, tears starting to form in her eyes as Thao looked on sadly, "Please! I'll call you an ambulance…just…"_

" _Minh, it's…too..la-te…" Eric stammered, knowing that his time was coming soon, "I…I've used…the…l-ast…of…my strength…to…bring Tran…here…safe-ly…I've…lost…too..mu-ch…blood…"_

" _Dad…"_

" _Mr. Duy, please hang on!" Thao urged, like Minh she was close to bursting into tears, "We'll get you some medical help as soon as possible! Just…don't talk about dying here! You're a strong man! We all know it!"_

" _T-hao…Vo Hieu Thao…thank you," Eric lets out a weak, sad smile, "Don't…worry…about…me…Please…take….good care…of Minh…and Ngan for me…"_

" _Dad…don't say things like that…" Minh wept, with Thao crying silently next to her._

" _Le…Thao…Minh," Eric called out, slowly caressing his crying daughter's face with his bloodied hand, "You've…grown up…to be…quite…the…amazing…daughter…I…I'm proud…to be…your…father…"_

" _Dad…please don't die on us!"_

" _Please…take care…of…Ngan…Thao…Tran…and the company…for…me…" Eric continued, his breathing becoming more and more shallower as he slowly reached for his pocket, taking out his ScanDriver and handing it over to Minh, "Use…this…to…protect…this…city…I…I…I think…you're…ready…now…"_

" _You're giving me your ScanDriver? Dad…does it mean…"_

 _Eric nodded weakly, "Yes…you're…now…the new…Mariner…I…I have…passed down…the…title to…you…Please…use…everything…that…I've…taught…you…well…and…protect everyone…in…this…city…"_

" _But I'm not ready yet, Dad! I'm still 17-years old! I still have school! I can't bear all the responsibilities that you've had!"_

" _It's okay…" Eric assured, coughing up more blood before continuing, "I…I've…already…taught…you…everything…that…you need…to know…I…I believe in you…Minh…you…you can become…a better person in life…than myself…"_

" _Dad…"_

" _You have…a bright future…ahead of you," Eric smiled weakly, "I…believe in you, Minh…my daughter…now go out there…and make your old man proud…and…you…must know…that…I…will…always…love you…"_

 _And with that Eric drew his last breath, his hands falling limply by his side. Minh, unable to contain her sadness within her, broke into tears of sorrow, her father's ScanDriver clutched tightly in her hands. Thao, despite being deeply saddened by Eric's passing, tried her best to be strong, silently closing Eric's eyes before embracing the sobbing Minh in a hug…_

 **xxx**

 _ **The next day**_

 _ **Cho Ray Hospital**_

 _Tran slept peacefully on her bed, an oxygen mask strapped to her face with a variety of medical equipment hooked onto her body. Sitting next to her bed was Minh, the 17-year old looking at her friend with a sad expression on her face. Thao was outside the hospital building, busy dealing with journalists asking for information regarding Eric's sudden and tragic passing. Minh, Thao, and the Lotus Industries lawyers had agreed to cover up Eric's death as a traffic accident, with Minh being appointed as Eric's replacement as the chairperson of Lotus Industries. Until she graduated from high school, she will be assisted by her father's trusted aides in running day-to-day business in Lotus Industries. That should ease the pressure mounting on Minh that resulted from her getting the position in such short notice, while at the same time it enabled Minh to get used to her new role._

 _Ngan was informed about Eric's death earlier in the morning by Minh and Thao and since Ngan had no idea about Eric's identity as Mariner as well as the fact that Minh had succeeded him, the two have decided to break the news to Ngan by using the cover story that they and the lawyers had agreed on. Naturally Ngan was devastated upon hearing the news of Eric's death and the teen was literally inconsolable, not even the combined efforts of Minh and Thao could calm her down. It's a good thing that Wind stepped in and volunteered herself to take care of Ngan during these tough times, thus allowing Minh and Thao to concentrate their efforts in sorting out themselves, Lotus Industries, and Tran._

 _Speaking about Tran, she had not awakened since the dying Eric had brought her back to the LIT using the last of his strength and she was immediately rushed to Cho Ray Hospital for further treatment. The doctors found significant internal bleeding on Tran's abdomen and thighs, as well as a few broken ribs, a fractured right arm, and a fractured left leg. However, much to the relief of Minh and Thao, they were not too serious, and Tran would only need a couple day's rest in the hospital to recover herself._

 _The psychological trauma from being the only survivor of the ambush that had mortally wounded Eric was another story, though._

 _Minh lets out a sad sigh as she looked at Tran's motionless body in front of her, the latter breathing steadily with the aid of the oxygen mask on her face. The fact that her father had been cruelly taken away from her and a good friend of hers has been hurt quite badly were too much for Minh to handle, and the 17-year old wept slowly at Tran's bedside._

" _Who could have done such a thing to the two of you?" Minh wondered sadly, caressing Tran's forehead as she wiped away her tears, "Why my father? Why him? Why does he have to die?"_

" **I believe I have the answer for that, young Le Thao Minh.** _"_

 _Wiping away her tears, Minh looked around the hospital room in sheer bewilderment, clearly surprised at the eerie-sounding disembodied male voice that had just spoken to her._

" _Who said that?" Minh asked warily, her senses were all on high alert for anything unusual inside the room, "Show yourself!"_

 _As if on cue, suddenly an orange glow began to overtake Tran's body, surprising Minh to the point of her slowly backing her chair away from Tran's bed out of fear. The air above Tran became distorted and darkened, as a ghostly apparition of Star's bust appeared above the unconscious woman._

" _Wh-who are you?" Minh stammered, clearly frightened by the apparition in front of her._

" **Do not be afraid, Le Thao Minh** , _" Star replied, his voice sounds soothing despite the eeriness of his tone, "_ **I am a friend, not your enemy.** _"_

" _You…you're a Maojin, aren't you?" Minh asked, "You're one of those creatures that my father used to fought!"_

" **It is true that I am a Maojin, but fear not, as I am a benevolent one.** _"_

" _Benevolent?"_

" **You see, not all Maojins are evil,** _" Star explained, "_ **Most of them are indeed evil and they paid for their crimes by being defeated by people like your father. But some, like me, choose to live among humanity to protect them from my own kind.** _"_

" _My father? How did you know my father?"_

" **You might not realize this, Le Thao Minh, but I've been living in your household for quite some time.** _"_

" _What are you talking about?" Minh asked, slowly overcoming her fear of the being in front of her even though she's still wary about him._

" **My name is Star. I am an Arcana Maojin, one of the strongest ones of my kind, and I am Tran Phuong Trang's guardian angel, so to speak,** " _Star replied, "_ **Your friend Tran here…she has stage 4** _ **glioblastoma**_ **. A condition that spells certain death to its sufferer…I think you know that already.** _"_

 _Minh nodded. Star's words were indeed true – Tran had been quite the medical anomaly within the medical community in Vietnam. The daughter of a friend of Eric's, Tran has been suffering from stage 4_ glioblastoma _, a type of brain cancer, ever since she was 9-years old. Sufferers of stage 4_ glioblastoma _were usually given only a few years, months, or even weeks to live, however Tran managed to live for a whopping 11 years despite the severe cancer growing inside her head. Doctors all over Vietnam and Southeast Asia has been baffled by Tran's condition, with Tran's father, a scientist at Lotus Industries, enlisting Eric's help to investigate her daughter's condition, as well as to develop the technology necessary to cure Tran's cancer. When Tran's father passed away mysteriously, Eric took Tran underneath his care, vowing to continue his departed friend's quest to find out the truth about Tran's condition and to cure her from her cancer._

" **Your friend's father alongside your father had worked hard in finding the answers behind the question on why your friend could survive as long as she did,** _" Star said, "_ **What they don't know…the reason behind Tran's resilience towards her cancer…was me.** _"_

" _You?" Minh's eyes went wide in shock, "What are you talking about?"_

" **I have merged with this woman ever since she was a child,** _" Star answered, "_ **I helped her body ward off her cancer cells, while also at the same time protecting her from the dangers all around her. Like I said…I'm Tran's guardian angel.** _"_

" _If you're really Tran's guardian angel, that means…"_

" **Correct. It was because of me that Tran was able to survive the ambush that took your father's life.** _"_

" _Wait, what did you meant by survive the ambush?" a clearly surprised Minh asked, "You were there, weren't you?"_

 _Star nodded, "_ **Exactly. I saw everything that happened yesterday night.** _"_

 _Realizing what Star had said, suddenly Minh knelt to the ground, tears welling up in her eyes again._

" _Please…I beg you…" Minh pleaded tearfully in front of Star, "Tell me…what happened. Tell me…what kind of monster had taken my father away from me. Tell me…why my father and Tran got brutally attacked like that. Tell me…why my father had to die such a horrible death! Please…I beg you…tell me everything!"_

 _Star lets out a chuckle, "_ **Very well. I will tell you everything that happened last night.** _"_

 _Wiping away her tears, Minh returned to her seat as Star began his story._

" **Your father was a powerful warrior, a hero like no other, a savior of mankind. However, this made him a prime target for the treacherous members of my kind. A lot of my fellow Maojins have tried and failed to take him out…but the one who had ambushed your father and your friend here…he was not a Maojin at all.** _"_

" _Not…a Maojin?" Minh gasped in disbelief._

" **That is correct. The one who had attacked your father and Tran…was in fact an armored warrior. A beetle-themed armored warrior…who can control electricity.** **Your father fought valiantly to protect Tran, but sadly, that warrior was too strong for him and he was defeated. I had to step in and managed to prevent that warrior from harming Tran. Your father would have died on the spot if it wasn't for my intervention…and despite the loss of such a great warrior, I'm relieved to know that he had managed to use the last of his strength well to deliver Tran back to safety.** _"_

" _Who…who was that warrior?"_

" **That I don't know. But together…we can find out who that warrior is…and make them pay. That warrior had taken away a dear comrade of mine and they had also taken away your dear father.** _"_

 _Minh slowly clenched her fists, her sadness and sorrow had turned into anger upon listening to Star's words, "What are you suggesting?"_

" **We should combine our forces, Le Thao Minh,** _" Star replied, "_ **You are now the new bearer of the Mariner title and armor, the successor to your father. With your new power and training that you've received from your father, I believe that you've become a warrior who is just as formidable as him. Do you want that warrior to pay for what they did to you? To your family?** _"_

" _Yes…yes!" Minh exclaimed, her fists tightly clenched in determination, "That warrior has taken away my father…someone who I loved very dearly…whoever that warrior is, he or she shall pay for the grave crime that they have done to my family!"_

" **Excellent,** _" Star smirked evilly, "_ **I will help you track down the warrior that had killed your father, as well as protecting your dear friend here from her cancer until you've found a cure for it. I'll let Tran live as long as she and you wanted…under one condition.** _"_

" _What is it?"_

" **You must trust me in everything, every word that I say, and every action that I do. I have fought alongside your father and respected him as an ally and I expect you, as the new Mariner, would do the same thing as well. I have more experience in handling things like these…and they say experience is the best teacher, no?** _"_

" _True," Minh nodded, "And what happens if I somehow disobey?"_

 _Star glanced at the unconscious Tran, "_ **Then I could no longer guarantee Tran's survival.** _"_

 _Minh gulped slightly. Something inside her mind told her that Star, despite his claims of being Tran's guardian angel and being a close acquaintance of her father, was someone that she should not trust at all. However, something else inside her mind urged her to seek out the answers regarding her father's death, and she felt that Star's the best…no, the only option that she had for answers. Minh also felt the need to avenge her father's undeserving death, that the warrior who had killed her father should pay for the crimes that they had committed, and Star was the perfect person to help with her vendetta. Last but not least, Tran was one of Minh's closest friends and she could not just stand still, do nothing, and watch Tran succumb to her cancer. Minh must continue her father's efforts in finding a cure for Tran\s cancer and once again, she felt that Star could help her in that process._

" _You've got yourself a deal," Minh told Star, "However…if you know my father well, you should know that he's the type of person who upholds pride, honor, and justice very dearly. I expect you to do the same with me. I want to settle things with my father's murderer in a fair and honorable combat, so whatever happens, you should not interfere at all. It should be between me and my father's murderer, that's it. No outside interference at all. Understand?"_

" **I respect your wishes, Le Thao Minh. Do not worry, I will only assist you in seeking out the warrior who had murdered your father as well as giving you advices on what you should do to draw that warrior out for your fair and honorable combat.** _"_

" _Good," Minh nodded, "And one last thing. Since you're a Maojin, I could not trust you entirely just yet. Prove to me that you're someone that I could trust my judgement with."_

 _Star chuckled, "_ **I knew that you would have said that. Watch this.** _"_

 _Star slowly floated above Tran's body, his hands hanging over her. With Tran's entire body still glowing orange underneath him, Star began to wave his hands, causing a sprinkle of orange glitter to fall out from the Arcana Maojin's hands and into Tran's body. The glitter made contact Tran's skin, erasing the bruises all over her body as well as mending the young woman's broken ribs and fractured limbs. As Minh watched on in sheer awe and disbelief, Tran slowly came to, her consciousness being restored by Star's healing glitter._

" _What did you do to her?" Minh asked, still awestruck by what Star had done._

" **It is simple, really…I merely used my power to heal her of her injuries. I would have used this on her cancer, but they were too severe…which is why my presence was needed to hold the cancer cells at bay.** _"_

" _Incredible…"_

" **Indeed. She should wake up in a few moments…that means I should retreat back into her body for now. It has been nice talking to you, Le Thao Minh…and I hope that our partnership could become a fruitful one.** _"_

" _Same here. I hope that you could help me as much as you did to my late father."_

 _And with that, Star's ghostly apparition disappeared into thin air, while at the same time the orange glow on Tran's body disappeared. Seconds afterwards Tran opened her eyes, clearly looking groggy after what she's been through._

" _Where…where am I?" Tran asked, her slightly blurry eyesight slowly adjusting itself to her unfamiliar environment._

" _Tran," Minh called, prompting Tran to slowly look at her, "You're in the Cho Ray Hospital."_

" _Wh…what happened?" Tran asked again._

" _You and Dad got attacked on your way to Dad's friend's hospital," Minh replied, "You've managed to survive the attack…but Dad…"_

 _Knowing what Minh meant, Tran quietly sobbed. Eric's death was devastating to her too, as the man had taken care of her for quite a while since the death of her own father, to the point of Tran considering Eric as a father of her own as well. Tran also owed Eric a lot for his efforts in trying to figure out a cure for her cancer and with his death, the research for her cure has gone into a standstill._

" _So Dad did not make it…that thunder beetle warrior was indeed too powerful for him…"_

" _Star was right…"_

" _You've met Star?" Tran asked, clearly surprised by what Minh had said._

 _Minh nodded, "Yeah, he showed himself to me before you came to. And he told me everything that had happened and everything about your condition. But it's okay. Thao and I will take good care of you…and I'll make sure that what happened in this room, stays in this room…_

 **xxx**

"Finally, we're out of that goddamn expressway,"

Thao's somewhat relieved voice brought Minh back to reality. Blinking her eyes a couple of times as she looked around at her surroundings, Minh saw that the hustle and bustle of the Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong Expressway has been replaced with the peaceful sceneries of the rural countryside. Gone were the congested traffic of the expressway and even though a couple of large trucks and intercity buses were still out and about, the general traffic around Thao's car was quite sparse.

"Are we in Tien Giang Province already?" Minh asked, surprised at the change of scenery around her.

"Yeah," Thao nodded as she stopped at a traffic light, "I think in about twenty-five minutes or so we'll be arriving at the city of My Tho."

"That was quick."

"Quick? It took me almost three goddamn hours to get out of that expressway! Man, that was one of the worst traffic jams that I've ever experienced. I'm quite surprised that you didn't feel it at all, Minh!"

"Yeah," Minh nodded rather sheepishly, clearly feeling bad for her remark that had caused Thao to burst out like that, "Guessed I spaced out for too long."

"You okay?" Thao asked, her tone reverting to her usual caring one, "You've been spacing out quite a lot since the start of our trip. You sure you don't want to tell me anything about it?"

"I'm good," Minh replied, "It's just…I had a lot of things in my mind."

"What kind of things?"

"You know…things."

"It was about yesterday, wasn't it? About what happened when we delivered that rematch letter to Krishna?"

Minh sighed. She knew Thao would say that despite her best efforts of keeping it secret from her, as having grown up with her and worked alongside her for such a long time, Thao literally knew everything that Minh's thinking right now.

"There's no hiding anything from you, huh?"

Thao chuckled as the traffic light became green, prompting her to continue her driving, "I've been alongside you throughout your entire life, Minh. Of course I know what you're thinking right now. So, do you want to tell me more about it? I can give you some useful advice, you know."

Minh shook her head, "Maybe later. We've got our new equipment to pick up, remember?"

Thao grinned upon hearing that, "Right. It's been a while since I saw that thing…can't wait to see it again. I hope Professor Steven and his team has made some improvements on it."

"Boy he did. When he called me, he's been bragging about how he had turned it into his very own personal masterpiece," Minh said, recalling the phone call that she had earlier this morning which started off the entire trip, "But the next phase on the project lies completely on us though. We need to test it and use it to gather more data before Professor Steven's team could move on with the mass-production process."

"We'll see about that," Thao said as she navigated her car around a roundabout located in front of the My Tho city gate before entering it afterwards, "Let's hope we could do our part successfully."

 **xxx**

 _ **Ten minutes later**_

 _ **My Tho Harbor**_

Thao parked her car in front of the My Tho Harbor building, before getting off the vehicle along with Minh. Awaiting the two young woman in the harbor building was an unassuming-looking young man, clad in a black and white hooped shirt and blue denim jeans, a _non la_ (Vietnamese straw hat) completing his look. After exchanging greetings with the young man, Minh and Thao were led to a small pier located within the harbor, where a small wooden motorboat awaited them. The young man helped Minh and Thao into the boat, before he quickly navigated the boat away from the pier.

The waters of the Mekong River that day were calm and steady, the perfect condition for one to set sail. Passing by several similar wooden motorboats carrying a variety of tourists who were out sightseeing on the Mekong, the young man steered his boat towards the middle of the river, before stopping at what seems to be a pile of wooden branches being tied together in the murky waters of the Mekong.

After he had stopped his boat, the young man quickly took out his cellphone, taking a second or two to make sure that there were no boats passing by around them, before dialing a number into his cellphone.

" _Password?_ " asked a gruff male voice from the other side of the line.

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," the man replied.

" _Correct. You have been granted access_ ," came the reply from the phone.

"Man, why is our secret facility's password so generic?" Thao whispered, making sure that she was out of the young man's earshot.

"Beats me," Minh shrugged, "I wasn't the one who came up with it..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Professor Steven's in charge of our Mekong Delta Research and Development Facility…he's the one who had probably came up with that password."

"Well tell him to come up with something more creative than that!"

"If we have the time."

Seconds after the young man had hung up his call, the waters around the pile of branches began to ripple steadily, with the intensity of the ripples increasing by the second. No longer than a minute later, the ripples had become violent to the point of almost shaking Minh and Thao off the boat, yet the young man was strangely unmoved by his boat being rocked by the increasingly choppy waters.

Suddenly, without warning, a large metallic capsule emerged from the Mekong, the pile of branches resting nicely on top of it. The capsule resembled a futuristic-looking elevator carriage of some sort, colored dark silver with patches of muddy brown from the Mekong's murky waters and green from moss growing on the capsule's service, while the Lotus Industries' logo was emblazoned above the capsule's metallic doors. The capsule's doors opened the moment it had completely risen from the depths of the Mekong, prompting the young man to quickly help Minh and Thao into the capsule before anyone else could notice them. Once the two young women had boarded the capsule, the capsule's doors slammed themselves shut, before it quickly retreated into the Mekong.

 **xxx**

Soon afterwards, Minh and Thao found themselves inside a hi-tech, futuristic-looking laboratory that belittled the rustic-looking capsule that they were in just moments ago. The laboratory was a huge one, about the size of a small airplane hangar, with a multitude of scientists in lab-coats going back and forth inside the lab, each of them busy their respective projects that has been assigned to them. The scientists were working on a variety of weapons and devices that looked lightyears ahead of what Lotus Industries has been making so far, making the anti-Maojin weapons that the company had commissioned for the MCU look completely obsolete and outdated. Overseeing the scientists was a man in his late thirties, wearing a long lab-coat over his black polo shirt that goes well with his black trousers and shoes. The man has short and spiky black hair styled into a slight mohawk, fair white skin, and a pair of white thin-framed glasses on his face, a red tie on his polo shirt completing his look.

Professor Dang Huy, or Professor Steven as he was better known, was the 38-year old head of the Lotus Industries Mekong Delta Research and Development Facility, a top-secret facility located hidden underneath the murky waters of the Mekong River, just off the coast of the city of My Tho in the province of Tien Giang. Built using the salvaged parts of submarines serving the both the Vietnamese Navy and the American Navy during both World War 2 and the Vietnam War, the existence of the Mekong Delta Research and Development Facility was only known to a select amount of people within the Lotus Industries hierarchy, namely Professor Steven himself, Minh, Thao, and the scientists working in the facility. It was in this very facility that Lotus Industries conducted the development of an array of new, never-before-seen weapons, devices, inventions, equipment, and armaments, ready to undergo a very tough and thorough selection process once they're completed before they're given the green-light to be mass produced in Lotus Industries' other, more public facilities.

Kamen Rider Mariner's TransGauntlet, the trilobite-like device attached to her right gauntlet that enabled the Rider to perform her ArmTrans abilities, was developed in this very facility, as it was a feature that was not available when Minh first inherited the Mariner armor from her late father. And it was in this very facility as well that Minh commissioned regular maintenance to her ScanDriver that kept the device in its optimal shape. The maintenance process also saw Mariner's battle data from the Driver being uploaded into the facility's computers to be analyzed and researched, thus enabling Lotus Industries to develop weapons and equipment capable of going toe-to-toe with the Maojins in the battlefield.

And it was one such equipment that had brought Minh and Thao all the way from Ho Chi Minh City to this secret facility.

Professor Steven noticed the two young women coming towards him, and a smile broke out on his face.

"Good morning ladies. You must be here for the prototype."

"Of course, why else would we come all the way here?" Minh replied, "You've told me over the phone that you've made some improvements on it. Care to tell us?"

"Absolutely," Professor Steven nodded, before he motioned a young woman in a lab-coat to come closer towards him, "Chika, could you fetch the prototype from our storage room?"

Chika, the young woman in question, quickly obliged, running off to the facility's storage room.

"I have made some tweaks on the prototype based on the new battle data from both your ScanDriver and your TransGauntlet," Professor Steven told Minh, before he glanced briefly at Thao, "I can assure you, with the new and improved prototype, your friend here could finally assist you in battle without the time limit restricting her, as well as having the same level of power as your Mariner form."

A few moments later Chika emerged from the storage room, carrying with her a silver metallic briefcase. She then handed the briefcase over to Professor Steven, who then proceeded to place the briefcase on a nearby table, with Minh and Thao watching on in interest. Typing in a secret code that unlocked the briefcase, Professor Steven slowly opened it up in front of Minh and Thao's watching eyes, a thin veil of smoke coming out of the briefcase as its locking mechanisms were disabled. After the smoke had cleared away, the contents of the briefcase were revealed – it was a black, elliptical device that resembled a ScanDriver, but lacking the translucent screen on the device's surface. It has a silver tab on the right hand side of the device, while a groove splits the device in half, suggesting that it could split open when the device was activated. On the top side of the device were four silver buttons, each with the numbers **1** to **4** being engraved on the buttons.

"Meet the Proto ScanDriver, version 2.0," Professor Steven introduced the device to both Minh and Thao, "This was our second attempt in reverse-engineering your ScanDriver and so far, the most successful one. Compared to the Proto ScanDriver version 1.0, it lacked the 3-minute time limit that restricted the user from utilizing its power to its full potential, however when the user of the Driver received too much damage in battle, they will be forced to revert back into their human form. Thankfully we've installed a feature that displays how much damage that the Driver's user could receive in their transformed state, no thanks to the data on Rider Gauges that we've got from Genm Corporation. This enables the Driver's user to see how much damage that they've taken, which in turn would enable them to perform tactical retreats should things go bad. However, it's not the final product yet, and it's up to you ladies to gather as much battle data as possible so that we could finally properly reverse-engineer the ScanDriver and mass-produce it for our company's purposes."

"Excellent work as usual, Professor Steven," Minh smiled after she had heard the Professor's explanation, "No wonder you've called it your own personal masterpiece…you've managed to perfect the kinks from the previous version and improve it."

Professor Steven chuckled, clearly pleased by Minh's appraisal, "Thanks, it's part of my job you know. Hopefully the completed Mass Production ScanDriver would please you as much as this Proto ScanDriver."

"Will look forward to that," Minh said as Professor Steven closed up the briefcase and enabled its locking mechanism once again.

After he had finished locking the briefcase, Professor Steven handed the briefcase over to Thao, who happily accepted it. Both Minh and Thao then say their goodbyes to Professor Steven, before heading back towards the capsule that will take them back to the surface.

"It's good to have this baby back," Thao smiled, looking at the briefcase in her hands while the capsule where she and Minh were at was slowly making its way back to the surface world, "It's been a while since I've last tried it...I hope that it'll be another great ride like the last time!"

"You're really excited on trying the new Proto ScanDriver out, huh?" Minh chuckled at her friend's words, "But yeah…it's been a while since you've fought alongside me. I'm just happy to have you back as my support."

"Hey, I've been your support throughout your life, you know," Thao said, "But honestly, I can't wait to join you in your battles again!"

"True, true. Which is why I want you to test the new Proto ScanDriver during my rematch with Krishna."

Thao blinked her eyes in surprise, "Eh? I thought you said that you wanted to have your rematch with him as a one-on-one affair?"

"I know, and I would like to keep it that way. You will not interfere in my battle; however, I have something equally important that I want you to do on that day…"

 **xxx**

 _ **Back in Ho Chi Minh City…**_

The last 24 hours has been quite the day for a certain Pham Vu To Quyen.

It all started off with an innocent pizza party that Steffi and her friends had planned to throw early yesterday morning to cheer up Krishna, who was still down and out from his fight against Mariner. And then suddenly Krishna had to go to the airport to pick up a friend of his following a letter delivered to the apartment from a clearly annoyed-looking crow with three legs. And without warning Krishna returned and brought with him not one, but _**two**_ young Japanese women with him to the apartment!

The first Japanese woman was a Ryōko Mitsurugi, an old friend of Krishna's from his adventures around the world. Apparently, they had met each other in Japan when Ryōko was still young during one of Krishna's many travels and the two had been contacting each other occasionally ever since. The second Japanese woman was Naomi Konishi, the daughter of Isamu Konishi of Japan's National Public Safety Commission. Isamu's exploits and achievements in the paranormal and supernatural world was widely recognized around the world and Steffi often refer to him whenever she's doing her SIG-related researches, so to be able to meet his daughter in-person was quite the honor for Steffi and the SIG as a whole.

But the fun part hasn't even started yet.

As Krishna and Karin were preoccupied in fetching some parchments that Ryōko had requested them to find, Steffi and Leo took Ryōko and Naomi out around town, with Kim and Vy holding down the fort at the apartment as well. During their trip, the four encountered a Maojin, the Kamikiri Maojin to be exact. The Kamikiri Maojin had caused a series of massive vehicular accidents and pile-ups all over Ho Chi Minh City, clearly taking advantage of Voyager's absence to wreak havoc to his heart's content.

Luckily, Ryōko revealed herself to be a Kamen Rider just like Krishna, the current Kamen Rider operating in Japan in fact, Kamen Rider Kagura. Kagura proved herself to be no slouch against a Maojin and exhibited the same form-changing ability as Voyager, using it to defeat the Kamikiri Maojin after a slight struggle. The group was unable to recover the Kamikiri Maojin's Maojin Card however, meaning that the kaijin could attack again one day.

Both Minh and Thao showed up at Steffi's apartment after that, the two somehow managing to track down the location where Krishna's staying. Suddenly Ryōko went ballistic and attacked Minh, as former was infuriated by how the latter had allegedly used her own sister, Ngan, as bait for her battle against Voyager, an accusation that clearly shocked everyone. Thankfully the strange crow from before, the Yatagarasu, intervened before Ryōko could do something that she'll regret one day.

At the end of the day, Karin managed to found the parchments that Ryōko was looking for, however, Ryōko decided that she will help out with Krishna's upcoming rematch with Minh, meaning that she and Naomi will stick around for a while….

…and at the same time giving Steffi, Kim, and Vy a massive logistical headache. Steffi's apartment was quite small in size and already there's four people staying there. Five if you count Karin but then again, she could easily switch back to her Maojin Card form and slip herself to any available pocket without any difficulty, or just lay herself on the desk in Krishna's room.

Luckily Leo had the idea of taking everyone out to the famous Nha Hang Ngon, literally meaning Delicious Restaurant, at the city center for dinner. The SIG girls were clearly confused on how to arrange accommodation for both Ryōko and Naomi, while Krishna was clearly still in his funk over his defeat at the hands of someone who he had considered as his own sister. So, Leo felt that it was for the best that everyone could talk about it over some fancy Vietnamese spring rolls and a few glasses of tea. But while the dinner was unable to shake Krishna out of his blues (he was too busy reading that short story that he got from his friend while eating to even pay attention), it did manage to allow Steffi, Kim, Vy, Ryōko, and Naomi to come up with a solution for who will sleep where – Ryōko will sleep in Steffi's room, Naomi will sleep with Kim in her room, while Steffi will sleep on the couch.

" _And man, do I forgot how uncomfortable the couch was_ ," Steffi winced in slight pain as she adjusted her back, which was clearly aching from sleeping on the apartment's couch, " _Reminder to self, buy more comfortable cushions at that new IKEA store that opened a few blocks away_."

It was early in the morning, around 7am, and Steffi was the first one to wake up. As usual she did her morning ritual – washing her face in the bathroom, adjust her shoulder-length hair, slap on her glasses, and prepare herself a nice warm cup of milk coffee to kickstart the day. Krishna has not come out of his room at all after they had returned from dinner, while Naomi and Kim were presumably still in their dreams. Vy was still dozing off in her rooms, but Steffi could swear that she heard her friend muttering something in her sleep, while Ryōko was probably still sleeping as well in Steffi's room.

And then, as she was sipping her coffee and recalling the events that happened yesterday, something hits Steffi's mind.

 **xxx**

" _Good morning. My name is Professor Pham Van Truoc, I'm working for the Maojin Counter Unit as their main researcher. And I was wondering whether you girls could do me a favor."_

" _What favor?" Steffi asked._

" _I would like you girls to borrow one of Kamen Rider Voyager's Maojin Cards for me."_

 _Immediately Steffi, Kim, and Vy gasped out in surprise, "What?"_

" _That's right," Professor Truoc nodded, "I've spent some time reviewing clips of Voyager's battles against the Unrecorded Lifeforms from your website and comparing them with footages of our MCU officers during their outings…you know, so that we could improve ourselves in dealing with these creatures. But sadly, so far that I saw…our performance on the field…were quite…dismal so to speak."_

" _I'm afraid that I have to agree with the Professor," Leo added, "The weapons that Lotus Industries that gave us performed better on the field than our standard weapons, however they were not strong enough to even leave a scratch on an Unrecorded Lifeform. Granted we manage to annoy and pester them, but we still need Voyager to bail us out time and time again."_

" _And your point is?" Kim asked._

" _Professor Truoc here have come up with a solution for the MCU so that our organization could catch up with Voyager in handling Unrecorded Lifeforms effectively," Leo replied, "And with this mysterious Kamen Rider showing up…"_

"… _Mariner," Steffi interrupted, "It's Kamen Rider Mariner. We saw her during the incident with the mole cryptid the other day and she introduced herself as Mariner."_

" _Mariner…an interesting name indeed. And a female Kamen Rider to boot…those kinds of Riders are quite rare these days," Leo commented, before quickly switching back to the topic at hand, "But anyway. We know that Voyager's firmly on our side, however it's a huge gray area for Mariner. Reports that came to us suggested that Mariner had fought against a few Unrecorded Lifeforms, however as we saw yesterday, she had no hesitation at all in fighting Voyager. Which is why, for now, we've decided that asking Mariner to help us out might not be the wisest of moves."_

" _And knowing that, I've decided to come up with an ambitious plan," Professor Truoc continued, "How about we make our own Kamen Rider?"_

" _What?!" Vy gawked, "You've got to be kidding me!"_

 _Leo nodded, "Yeah, you know as they say, better safe than sorry. Voyager might be handling the Unrecorded Lifeforms with ease right now but only time will tell that he would run into some trouble someday. And that's where our proposed Kamen Rider will step in."_

" _With trusting Mariner as good as trusting toilet paper to fix your leaky roof, I'm planning to create a device that utilizes the power of the Maojin Cards to its full potential. I'm going to ask Lotus Industries to fund this project of mine, but in the meantime, I need a Maojin Card to be analyzed. I need to know how these cards work, how it could grant both Voyager and Mariner with new forms, abilities, and weapons, and how to integrate them with the human body and our own weapons. Not only that my analysis would hopefully bring this project of mine into fruition, it would also improve our existing arsenal so that with or without Voyager, we won't lag too far behind," Professor Truoc explained._

" _That does sound quite ambitious," Steffi nodded in understanding, "So what do you need us to do, Prof?"_

" _Since you girls are the closest people to Voyager, I need you girls to get me a Maojin Card, any Maojin Card would do, but make sure that Voyager's okay with you girls and us borrowing it for a few days or so. The sooner I could get the card, the sooner I could start improving the MCU's weaponry as well as developing the MCU's very own Rider system. I'm counting on you girls and I wish you good luck!"_

 **xxx**

"And to believe we actually missed an opportunity of getting a Maojin Card for Professor Truoc," Steffi sighed, recalling the time where Kagura was distracted by a sudden bolt of lightning out of nowhere, thus enabling the Kamikiri Maojin's Maojin Card form to get away, "But then again that was quite unavoidable…"

Suddenly another idea struck Steffi's head.

"I got it!" Steffi exclaimed all of a sudden to herself, "Why don't I use one of those new Maojin Cards that Ryōko gave to Krishna last night?"

" _ **I don't think Krishna would allow you to do that.**_ "

A startled Steffi almost fell off her chair, before the young woman quickly regained her composure. Scanning around the room for any signs of anything unusual, Steffi's eyes went wide in surprise as she saw Karin, in her card form, lying in front of her all this time.

"Geez Karin, stop scaring me like that," Steffi scratched the back of her head uneasily, "You almost made me fell off my chair!"

" _ **Sorry,**_ " an equally uneasy Karin responded, " _ **But come on. How come you did not notice me here?**_ "

"When I went to sleep you weren't here…I thought you're supposed to be in Krishna's room!"

" _ **Krishna kicked me out. Right in the dead of midnight no less!**_ "

"You're kidding me."

" _ **I kid you not. The guy's completely obsessed with that short story of his! I tried to ask him to go to sleep but instead he threw me out!**_ "

"Morning girls," suddenly Ryōko emerged out of Steffi's room, joining both Steffi and Karin at the dining table, "How's your sleep?"

"Terrible," Steffi replied.

" _ **Worst sleep I've ever had in millennia,**_ " Karin added.

"I had the best sleep in ages," Ryōko said nonchalantly, earning her glares of daggers from both Steffi and Karin, "Right, I suppose I should not say that."

"Anyway, we were talking about Krishna and his obsession for _Maximilian Titan_ ," Steffi told Ryōko.

"Oh right, I remember," Ryōko said, recalling the events of last night, "When I gave him the Maojin Cards that I had, he just accepted them, going all nostalgic and stuff and talking about how he defeated the Habu and Salamander Maojins with the aid of my parents, before suddenly saying that he did not see how these cards would help him in his rematch against Mariner and went back to his room. He only came out for dinner and he brought that short story with him, and when we return he went straight to his room with that story of his. What's so interesting about it anyway? I'm not that well versed in human literature."

"Krishna said that a friend of his had wrote it, some guy who went to a number of publishers across the city and got rejected by them all," Steffi said, sipping her coffee, "I don't see why he's all obsessed over it…I mean the author got rejected by almost all publishers in this city! Surely that story of his can't be _**that**_ good!"

"I guess the only way to find out is to read it ourselves…" Ryōko mused, before she suddenly realized something, "Oh, speaking of which, one question."

"Fire away."

"Right. I've watched the video footage of Voyager's battle against Mariner on your website yesterday after dinner…it was brutal. Mariner literally did a number on him…but why did he managed to brave his way through all of those beatings? I mean when I saw him yesterday he has those bruises and that busted rib of his…but after seeing the video, I think he should be in hospital right now!"

" _ **I think I can answer that question,**_ " Karin said, " _ **You see, fighting as Voyager for 657 years had conditioned Krishna's body so much that he could withstand any kind of punishment…but not to the point of invincibility, of course. He just has a higher endurance and higher tolerance of pain compared to a normal human thanks to his conditioning. That, and the fact that he had trained underneath a famous martial arts teacher renowned for his unbreakable body. Their styles might be completely different, but that teacher happily taught Krishna on how to make himself more durable in battle.**_ "

"And who's that teacher, if I may ask?" Ryōko asked.

" _ **The Tiger Kid himself, the one with infinite power flowing through his body, Jan Kandou of the Fierce Beast Tiger-Fist.**_ "

Immediately Steffi spat out her coffee in surprise, "You're kidding me. Jan Kandou? _**The**_ Jan Kandou?"

"I've heard of him before," Ryōko added, "He is a world-renowned martial artist, traveling from country to country to teach the way of the Juken, the Beast-Fist Technique."

" _ **I still remember the first time Krishna and Jan met quite well,**_ " Karin reminisced, " _ **We were trekking at the Altai Mountains in China in 2009 when we met Jan and his master, Xia Fu. They were both fighting a kaijin and Krishna stepped in to help…I think it was a Fangire.**_ "

"You mean one of those stained-glass vampire creatures that terrorized Asia more than a decade ago?" Ryōko asked.

" _ **Correct. Krishna managed to defeat that Fangire and out of gratitude, Jan and Xia Fu took Krishna under their wing. Even though Krishna did not practice the way of the Juken, Jan had taught Krishna how to increase his body's endurance, which enabled him to resist damage much longer than an average human.**_ "

"Incredible…" Steffi mused, cleaning up the coffee that she had spat out with a tissue paper, "I can't believe that Krishna had met and befriended so many amazing people throughout his journey..."

"Well that explains how Krishna managed to survive such a beatdown…to be honest I don't know whether I could even stand up after such a beating!" Ryōko said as she stood up from her seat, "I'm going to check on him to see how he's doing right now."

 **xxx**

"You have got to be kidding me."

Ryōko shook her head in dismay as she stood in front of the door, in front of her was Krishna sitting on his bed, Rei's short story in hand, and empty plastic bottles scattered around him.

"How long have you read that thing?" Ryōko asked.

"All night," Krishna replied nonchalantly, "I did not sleep at all."

"Really? So, the moment we came back from dinner, you went straight back into your room, and throughout the night, you were sitting on your bed, and reading that story of yours?"

"Guilty," Krishna smiled sheepishly.

"And what are those bottles around you?"

"Milk tea," Krishna answered, lifting up a plastic bottle half-filled with the drink, "Whenever I feel upset, I drink milk tea."

Immediately Ryōko dropped her stern demeanor upon hearing that, realizing that by the amount of milk tea that Krishna had drank, he must have been really upset yesterday. The Kitsune sat next to Krishna on the young man's bed, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"You're still upset about your fight with Mariner the other day, aren't you?" Ryōko asked.

"What? That's nonsense. I'm okay, nothing's wrong with me, really!"

"Then explain to me about all these bottles of milk tea that you've drank?"

Krishna sighed. Gulping down the remaining half of his bottle of milk tea, Krishna tossed the bottle away, before clearing his throat twice.

"Le Thao Minh was a very close friend of mine," Krishna started, "We were quite inseparable back then. She saw me as an older brother that she never had, I saw her as a little sister that I need to take care of. Even though I was a mere family friend, she often confides me with things that she rarely tells anyone, not even her own father. I was her most trusted friend, the one that she could count on the most."

"Does she know about you and her father being…"

Krishna nodded, "Yes. We usually tell her tales from our battles as her bedtime stories, and her father even trained her as his successor after I left. I think that's how she became someone who's just as capable in battle as her own father. If only she's not out to kill me…"

"So what happened? Who killed Minh's father?"

Krishna shook his head, "I have no idea, to be honest. Before I came here, I thought that he was too busy taking care of his company and family, but knowing that he has passed away for two years and with the blame of his death being put entirely on me…it's just too much."

"So where were you two years ago?"

"In America," Krishna replied, "I was at a city called Prometheus Falls, investigating the outbreak of creatures called Beastmen there. I fought alongside the local armored hero there. I think I spent the entirety of 2021 in the States…"

"I see," Ryōko nodded, "Man, you've must have been through a lot, huh?"

"Tell me about it," Krishna chuckled slightly, "Having someone who you consider as your own sibling out for your head…probably wasn't the way I expected to see Minh after all these years. I was quite surprised that you went ballistic on her yesterday, to be honest. Even with all the accusations that she made against me, I don't believe that she's the kind of person who'd willing to throw her own sister to the sharks for her own sake."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Like what the Yatagarasu said, I'm quite sensitive regarding emotions. Since you're quite close to her, mind telling me what kind of person Minh actually is? Perhaps I could help you with a thing or two."

"She's the most amazing girl that I've known," Krishna mused, "She's kind-hearted, a bit shy at times, really diligent at everything that she does, loves her family and friends dearly, and does not hesitate with her words. She could be quite sharp-tongued and mean at times, but she's really honest when she's mean."

"You're talking about her just like she's your girlfriend or something," Ryōko teased.

"Please. I'm old enough to be her freaking _**ancestor**_ ," Krishna laughed, "But yeah, most importantly, Minh has her father's sense of honor. She doesn't want innocent lives to be put in danger in her battles and she shuns underhanded tactics. Which is why…"

"Minh did not save that Maojin that took her sister hostage, she was actually kicking him out of the battlefield," Ryōko concluded.

"Bingo. She said something about dealing with that Maojin later, after she's done with me," Krishna said, "If I wasn't there, she would probably have torn that Maojin to shreds for what he's done to her sister…unfortunately, I'm the bigger priority for her."

"I hope Ngan would find out about this sooner or later…that her sister did not actually save the Maojin that had taken her hostage…"

"Hopefully. Poor girl's quite traumatized from her ordeal…I couldn't blame her if she thought that Minh had saved the Maojin that had taken her hostage."

"Krishna…believe it or not…I'm facing the same situation as you right now."

Krishna raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Wait, really?!"

Ryōko nodded, "Really. Back home, there's another Kamen Rider who's out for my head, Kamen Rider Seiken, aka Tatsuya Momosaki. His parents were killed by Kegare, but unfortunately due to Kegare's resemblance to me, he put the blame for his parents' death on me instead…just like how Minh blamed you for her father's death. Both Tatsuya and Minh are now Riders driven by vengeance and they both lost their important parental figure in life…however there's one stark difference between them."

"And that is?"

"There's a light at the end of the tunnel for Minh," Ryōko said, "Remember when I grabbed her collar and suddenly released her yesterday?"

"Yeah, I remember that…I'm still quite confused on why did you do that."

"We Kitsunes are able to read through a person's heart," Ryōko explained, "Which means that no matter what anyone say to us, we would instantly know whether that person told us the truth or not. And as far as I'm concerned, the two of you were telling the truth. You and your whereabouts two years ago and Minh and the fact that she had no idea whatsoever about the Maojin taking her sister hostage."

"So when you grabbed Minh's collar yesterday…you were reading into her heart?"

"That's right," Ryōko nodded, "I've already read Tatsuya's heart before I came here…his was dark, twisted, consumed by the overwhelming vengeance that is slowly corrupting him. When I read Minh's heart…I saw almost the same thing, however…I saw some specks of light there."

"What do you mean?"

"She did not let her vengeance completely consume her, Krishna. Which is why she made the rematch in the first place. Yes, she might bear a grudge against you, but she's careful enough to not let it corrode her heart completely like Tatsuya. Her sense of honor was strong enough to control her vengeful thoughts…you should have seen Tatsuya, Krishna. He's a complete wreck, his quest for revenge has driven him to do unthinkable things…like placing a curse on my entire neighborhood that turned everyone that I knew against me."

"Ouch," Krishna winced, "If she knew about this, Minh would probably beat the shit out of Tatsuya for using such tactics!"

"I know, right?" Ryōko chuckled, "My point is, there's still hope in saving Minh. It's up to you to set things right with her. Fight to clear your name, Krishna. Fight to prove your innocence. And most importantly…fight so that you can get your old Minh back. Do not hesitate like the last time, because this time, you're not fighting against her…you're fighting for her."

"Damn right I will," Krishna smiled, before suddenly finding himself being dragged by his ear by Ryōko, "Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Taking you to training, duh."

 **xxx**

By the time Ryōko had dragged Krishna out of his room, Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Naomi were at the apartment's living room, watching an episode of _The Big Bang Theory_. The four of them were clearly surprised to see Ryōko pulling Krishna by his ear, the former heading straight towards the apartment's door while the latter was struggling in the Kitsune's surprisingly strong grip.

"What the heck are you two doing?" Steffi asked.

"We'll be away for a while," Ryōko replied as she opened the door, "The two of us are going out sparring."

"Sparring?" Kim blinked, before she realized what Ryōko meant, "You mean the two of you are going to fight?!"

"I need to gauge Krishna's ability to see whether he's ready to take on Mariner or not," Ryōko told Kim, before turning her attention towards Krishna, "Now come along!"

"Wait!" Krishna cried in pain as Ryōko dragged him out of the apartment, "Can you at least let me fetch Karin?"

" _ **Coming!**_ " Karin exclaimed, launching herself from the dining table and into Krishna's pocket.

"Well, now that Karin's with you, let's go!" Ryōko exclaimed in a sing-song voice, heading out of the apartment with the still-struggling Krishna in tow.

After the two had left and shut the apartment's door, Steffi, Kim, and Vy looked at Naomi, who shrugged at them.

"She could be like that at times…" Naomi said, clearly embarrassed by Ryōko's antics.

 **xxx**

 _ **Four hours later**_

 _ **Cat Tien National Park, Dong Nai Province**_

After a long ride on Krishna's motorcycle, both Krishna and Ryōko arrived at their destination, Cat Tien National Park in Dong Nai Province, around 150 km north of Ho Chi Minh City. Ryōko had did her research last night and found out that Cat Tien National Park was spacious and secluded enough for the two of them to spar, so she had chosen the lowland tropical forest area as their training ground.

Once they had parked Krishna's motorcycle at the park ranger's office, both Krishna and Ryōko ventured deep into the national park, before the latter asked the former to stop once they had arrived at a small creek in the heart of the forest.

"Stop here," Ryōko said, taking a sip of water from the nearby creek with Krishna doing the same as well, "This is where we're going to train."

After she had said that, Ryōko's Kitsune features suddenly appeared on her as a metallic belt with a large buckle that bore a circle with a Seimei Star within it appeared on her waist. Surprised by the belt's sudden appearance on Ryōko's waist, Krishna immediately assumed his fighting stance, taking out his ScanDriver and placing it on his own waist.

"Taking out your Gensou Driver already, huh?" Krishna asked as he took out his Thunder Kabuto card, "Looks like we're going straight for the fun!"

"You're damn right we are," Ryōko said, placing her hands together in a 'Rin' hand seal as she summoned a circle of fiery red flames around her, the Seimei Star on her Gensou Driver glowing red, " **Henshin!** "

 **READY!**

"Hmph, if that's what you wanted…guess I'll join in as well. **Henshin!** "

 **POWER RELEASE AUTHORIZED. INITIATING BLAZE FORM.**

 **ACE HENSHIN! THUNDER KABUTO!**

Ryōko was engulfed in fire while a purple ring of energy erupted from the ScanDriver and enveloped Krishna, the two transforming into their respective Kamen Rider forms. As Voyager's eyes flashed three times to signal the completion of his transformation, the flames enveloping Ryōko died out, revealing her Rider form.

Covered in head to toe in a black bodysuit, Ryōko's Rider form has white and orange armor on her, while the front of her helmet has a large _torii_ emblem decorating it. Her helmet's visor was bright red in color, along with the short _hakama_ wrapped around her waist and parts of her armor. Last but not least, on her back was a uniquely-designed sword, its blade safely wrapped in its sheath.

This was Kamen Rider Kagura, in her default Blaze Form.

" _Sate, odorimasen ka?_ " Kagura asked, roughly translated as "Now then, shall we dance?"

"My name is Voyager!" Voyager replied, pointing at himself before pointing at Kagura, "I shine light in the darkness and I vanquish evil!"

"Evil? Please, I'm far from that," Kagura rolled her eyes as unsheathed her sword, called the Yon-kata Haraubuki (Four-form Exorcising Weapon).

"Geez," Voyager shook his head as he took out his Thunder Centaurus card, "That's how my catchphrase goes!"

 **TWO EQUIP! THUNDER CENTAURUS!**

 **(Cue BGM: Specium Zepellion no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

With the Kaminari Blade in his hands, Voyager charged into battle, quickly parrying a slash from Kagura's Yon-kata Haraubuki. The two Riders then clashed their weapons afterwards, their blades dancing with each other. Kagura's fighting style was elegant, wielding her Yon-kata Haraubuki with such grace and agility. Voyager, who was already an experienced swordsman honed through the numerous battles that he had participated in, was barely keeping up with her with his Kaminari Blade.

"Whew, you're pretty good," Voyager complimented once his Kaminari Blade was locked together with the Yon-kata Haraubuki.

"Same could be said for you," Kagura complimented back, "You're exactly the skillful warrior that my parents told me about."

Both Voyager and Kagura threw themselves off each other, with the former charging purple electricity into his Kaminari Blade and the latter charging fire into her Yon-kata Haraubuki. Crying out their respective war-cries, both Voyager and Kagura swung their weapon at each other, releasing slashes of their respective elements. The slashes clashed in mid-air, resulting in a small explosion that rocked the entire forest.

 **(BGM ends)**

"Seems like nothing can separate us in our default forms," Kagura said, "How about we try our speed forms?"

And with that, the Gensou Driver gives off a greenish glow as Voyager tossed his Kaminari Blade aside, taking out his Hurricane Eagle card from his card holder afterwards.

 **ELEMENT SHIFT INITIATED.**

A small tornado surrounded Kagura, a green energy circle appearing above her. Seconds later the circle moved down onto her, dissipating the tornado at the same time.

 **ELEMENT SHIFT COMPLETED. INITIATING TEMPEST FORM.**

As the tornado enveloping Kagura disappeared completely, her new form was revealed for the world to see. She had become slimmer, more athletic, with the red parts of her armor turning green. Kagura was now in her speed-oriented Tempest Form.

 **ACE HENSHIN! HURRICANE EAGLE!**

Voyager, in his Hurricane Form, assumed his fighting pose as Kagura held onto her Yon-kata Haraubuki once again, running two fingers down the blade of the sword. Suddenly the Yon-kata Haraubuki shifted from a sword into a crossbow, much to Voyager's surprise.

"Shit, I don't even have a weapon in this form…"

"Improvise. Adapt. Overcome," Kagura said, aiming her Yon-kata Haraubuki at Voyager.

"Did you just fucking quote Bear Grylls?!"

"Yeap," Kagura simply said, firing off her Yon-kata Haraubuki.

"Shit!" Voyager cursed as the green projectiles came towards him.

Immediately tapping into his super speed, Voyager's body began to glow green as he quickly avoided the incoming projectiles. Seeing this, Kagura fired off more shots, which Voyager danced around with his enhanced acceleration, before the exorcist Rider found herself being punched several times on the face by Voyager. A couple of chops to the shoulder and a kick to the chest later, and Kagura was sent flying to a nearby tree, her Yon-kata Haraubuki falling out of her hands.

"Not bad," Kagura commented, cracking her neck twice as she regained her composure, "Not bad at all."

"You haven't seen nothing yet."

 **(Cue BGM: Hurricane Slash no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

Voyager jumped into the air, somersaulting on his way down before descending with a dropkick that smacked Kagura on the chest. As Kagura stumbled back, Voyager landed back on the ground, waving his hands in a Tai Chi-like fashion as green energy swirled into his palms. Activating his super speed once again, Voyager attempted to perform an energized palm strike onto Kagura's chest, but his attack was surprisingly countered by Kagura, who caught his incoming attack easily with her right fist.

"What?!" Voyager gasped.

"You have exceptional speed, Voyager," Kagura said, "But I haven't shown mine yet!"

And with that the two Rider exchanged blows with their fists and palms, both fighting gracefully to a standstill. Kagura in her Tempest Form managed to match Voyager Hurricane Form's speed from blow to blow, like the previous clash between their default, balanced forms, there was nothing separating the two Riders once again.

Until when Kagura got her hands on her Yon-kata Haraubuki again, that is. Twirling the crossbow a few times, the weapon shifted form once again, transforming into a _tessen_ (a Japanese war fan with metal edges). Undeterred by this, Voyager took out his Hover Hummingbird card.

 **FIVE ABILITY! HOVER HUMMINGBIRD!**

With the pair of energy wings granted to him by the Hover Hummingbird card on his back, Voyager took off to the skies, avoiding each swipe of the Yon-kata Haraubuki and countering some with kicks of his own. While some of the kicks were parried easily by the Yon-kata Haraubuki, Voyager managed to land a few lucky shots onto Kagura's head and chest. The blows did nothing but to rile up Kagura even more, however, as her swings of the Yon-kata Haraubuki became more and more intense. Voyager had to acrobatically dodge each swipe with the help of his wings, however he let his guard down for a split-second that enabled Kagura to smack him out of the sky.

 **(BGM ends)**

Voyager was sent crashing to the ground, his energy wings disintegrating upon impact. As Kagura converted her Yon-kata Haraubuki back into a sword, a clearly annoyed Voyager quickly stood up, the Inferno Komodo card in his hand.

"Right, speed and agility contest over. It's time to test our brute strength!" Voyager exclaimed, opening his ScanDriver before exchanging the Hurricane Eagle card with the Inferno Komodo card.

 **ACE HENSHIN! INFERNO KOMODO!**

As Voyager switched into his Inferno Form, Kagura took a deep breath, her Gensou Driver glowing gray as a small gray circle of rocks, dust, and sand materialized in front of her.

 **ELEMENT SHIFT INITIATED.**

Yelling out in determination, Kagura charged into the circle, coming out of it with her green parts now turning to gray, and her overall muscle mass increased, matching the bulkiness of Voyager's Inferno Form.

 **ELEMENT SHIFT COMPLETE. INITIATING STONE FORM.**

Kagura did not waste her time in landing a jab onto Voyager's left cheek, which the Rider replied with a jab of his own that landed on Kagura's right cheek. Both Voyager and Kagura stumbled back from their respective punches, with the latter cracking her neck in determination and the former igniting his fists with crimson red flames.

 **(Cue BGM: Burnmite no Theme – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

Within seconds the two were at it again, crouching their legs before charging at each other. The two Riders grappled, their brute strength clearly matching with one another with neither of them giving in. The intense heat radiating from Voyager's hands did not affect Kagura at all, enabling her to retain her tight grip on her opponent's hands. After a few minutes of endless pushing and shoving, the two eventually broke up their grapple, with neither of them managing to topple the other off their feet.

With his fists still on fire, Voyager punched Kagura twice on the chest, neither of them budging the exorcist Rider. Trying to approach things differently, Voyager proceeded to hoist Kagura over his head and threw her to the ground, but his opponent instead used the opportunity to perform a quick somersault in mid-air, landing gracefully on both feet.

"Is that what you've got?" Kagura taunted, only to be replied with a sudden shoulder barge from Voyager, "Ouch, shouldn't have asked that."

As Kagura recovered herself, Voyager fired off two fireballs from his fists, before a burst of hot steam from Voyager's right fist followed suit. Kagura crossed her arms to protect herself, the fireballs being dispersed safely by Stone Form's tough armor, however the ensuing burst of steam was more than enough to broke her defenses, the steam slightly scalding her armor.

Seeing this opportunity, Voyager ignited his right fist, before landing a fiery jab onto Kagura's helmet. The jab was more than enough to disorient the gray Rider, with Kagura stumbling back groggily from the attack. However, Kagura quickly regained her composure, and as Voyager came in with another flaming punch attack, Kagura quickly headbutted the fiery black-and-red Rider on his chest, the sudden attack enough to send Voyager on his back.

"Shit, that actually hurts," Voyager commented as he stood up, dusting off his chest armor.

But before he knew it, Voyager saw Kagura rapidly performing all nine hand gestures of the Kuji-in. This could only mean one thing.

 **FINAL CLEANSE INITIATED: STONE METEOR!**

"What the fuck!" Voyager cursed as he saw Kagura jumping into the air, her legs charged with gray energy with rocks, mud, and sand swirling around them, "A finishing move?!"

Kagura quickly assumed a dropkick position in mid-air, her feet aimed straight for Voyager's chest. Knowing that within seconds he would receive the full brunt of Kagura's finisher, Voyager quickly took out the Scatter Salamander card that Ryōko had given to him last night.

"Here goes nothing…" Voyager muttered, inserting the card into his right hip slot.

 **EIGHT ABILITY! SCATTER SALAMANDER!**

A milky white sheen overtook Voyager's eyes, seconds before Kagura's Stone Meteor Rider Kick struck him right on his chest. A huge explosion rocked the entire Cat Tien National Park, with birds fleeing in panic from their perches and other animals quickly taking cover.

 **(BGM ends)**

After the smoke and dust from the explosion had settled, Kagura was seen crouching on the ground, panting heavily as her Rider Kick had taken a lot from her. In front of her was Voyager's Inferno Form armor, still standing proudly on both of his feet despite taking the full impact of Kagura's finisher, however his eyes were strangely hollowed out, leaving behind black cavities in their place.

"Holy shit…" Kagura gasped as she barely willed herself to stand up, her eyes wide in disbelief underneath her helmet, "How did he manage to withstand my Final Cleanse?"

Slowly and cautiously, Kagura went closer towards the still-standing Voyager, inspecting the black-and-red Rider's body from head to toe for anything out of the ordinary. As she saw Voyager's hollow eye sockets, Kagura suddenly realized something.

"Oh shit."

 **INFERNO OVERCHARGE!**

" **Inferno Impact!** " Voyager exclaimed, his burning right fist punching through his hollowed-out armor's chest and striking Kagura right on her head, sending the exorcist Rider flying through several trees before crashing onto the ground with a loud, deafening thud.

Voyager's hollowed-out armor crumbled away into ashes, revealing Voyager, still in his Inferno Form, panting heavily behind it. His armor looked brand new and shiny, a stark contrast to his old armor that looked slightly battered and worn. As he caught his breath, Voyager took a glance at his old armor's helmet, lying idly near his right foot with its eye sockets looking directly at Voyager.

"Thank God the card Ryōko gave me worked as a charm," Voyager said, smirking underneath his helmet, "Thank you, old friend."

Voyager quickly made his way towards where Kagura had landed and much to his surprise; it was quite far from where they had sparred.

" _Oh shit_ ," Voyager cursed in his thoughts, realizing that he might have overdone it with his finisher, " _Don't tell me…_ "

After three minutes of walking, Voyager had found Kagura. She was lying on the ground, motionless, with her head stuck to the ground and her body arched upwards in a rather…suggestive position.

If it wasn't for the fact that Kagura had received the full brunt of his finisher, Voyager would have laughed his ass off right there right now.

"Yo, Ryōko, you okay?" Voyager asked as he approached Kagura's motionless body, slowly pulling her head off the ground and laying her on her back, "You there, homie?"

Voyager gently slapped Kagura's cheeks twice, only to receive no response. Realizing that something was off, Voyager started to shake Kagura's body frantically, as worry slowly but surely set itself into Voyager's mind.

"Hey, wake up! Ryōko, wake up! Please don't tell me that that punch actually blew your brains out…please, don't you dare die on me!"

However no matter how hard Voyager shook and slap Kagura's face and body, she did not responded at all. Fearing that the worst might had happened, Voyager slowly crossed Kagura's arms over her chest, leaned the body against a nearby tree, before Voyager slowly and respectfully backed away from Kagura's still-motionless body.

"You were a brave warrior, my friend," Voyager said solemnly as he slowly turned his back on Kagura's motionless body, "I hope you rest in peace."

As Voyager solemnly walked away from her, slowly Kagura's fingers began to twitch; a slight giggle can be heard from the exorcist Rider's helmet. Suddenly Kagura jumped back onto her feet, laughing her guts off as she does so.

"Gotcha!"

Hearing hysterical laughter behind him, Voyager quickly turned around to see an obviously alive and well Kagura roaring with laughter, the white-and-gray Rider pointing at him as she does so.

"My God, you should have seen yourself back there, Krishna! I can't believe that you're so easy to be tricked!"

Voyager sighed, before he quickly assumed his fighting stance, "Goddamnit Ryōko! You scared the fuck out of me!"

Realizing that Voyager was ready to beat the crap out of her again, Kagura quickly formed a T with both her hands.

"Time out!" Kagura exclaimed as she transformed back to a slightly bruised Ryōko, "Sparring's over."

Voyager lets out another sigh, his armor disintegrating into red motes of light as he reverted into a very fatigued-looking Krishna, "Damn, you got me right there Ryōko…but that was fun, wasn't it?"

"Fun?" Ryōko rolled her eyes, "I think you might have gone a little bit too excited there…"

"Says the one who almost decimated a large patch of forest with her Rider Kick," Krishna replied, leaning himself against a tree as he lets out a sigh, "Phew! That was one intense sparring session we had back there."

"Tell me about it," Ryōko said, sitting next to Krishna as she also lets out a tired sigh, "My parents had spoken highly about your fighting skills when I was younger…I'm glad that they were right. That was some fight that you gave me back there Krishna…I'm looking forward to spar with you again."

"Feeling's mutual," Krishna smiled, "But truth be told, you fought really well…you almost had me in a pinch had not I used that card that you gave to me last night. If your parents are watching us right now, they would be really proud of you."

"Thanks," Ryōko smiled gratefully, her eyes looking up at the clear blue sky above them as she imagined her mother and father looking proudly at her from the clouds, "I'm pretty sure they will be really proud of me as well…"

 **xxx**

 _ **Twenty minutes later**_

With both Krishna and Ryōko all patched up at the park ranger's office, it was time for them to prepare themselves for the long trip back to Ho Chi Minh City. As Krishna was busy washing himself off at the office's toilet, Ryōko was sitting on the office's porch, enjoying a glass of ice tea that one of the park rangers had made for her.

" _Man, I still can't believe that the rangers actually overlook the fact that we almost blew up an area of the forest!_ " Ryōko thought to herself as she sipped her tea.

Being the experienced talker that he was, Krishna managed to cook up an excellent excuse for the rangers for the explosion that happened in the forest during his spar with Ryōko. And his excuse? Some campers had accidentally popped up a few balloons in the forest. Unbelievably, the rangers took the excuse literally and dismissed any concerns regarding the explosion, even to the point of taking Krishna and Ryōko in to have their injuries checked. Once again Krishna cooked up an excuse for their injuries – the two of them slipped while hiking. Classic.

"Ready to go?"

Ryōko turned around to see Krishna standing behind him, all cleaned up and refreshed.

"Not yet," Ryōko shook her head, showing Krishna her glass of ice tea, "Still need to finish this up."

"Be my guest," Krishna said, sitting next to Ryōko as the latter sipped her ice tea once again, "Anyway, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Am I ready…for tomorrow's rematch?"

Ryōko thought for a moment. She had looked and reviewed through numerous videos of Voyager's battles in the SIG website, including the one where Mariner absolutely curb-stomped him. She had also observed Voyager throughout their spar. From what she saw, Voyager's fighting style, despite his skills, were quite predictable. Since he doesn't have that much Maojin Cards in his arsenal, Krishna was left relying solely in his hand-to-hand fighting skills, or his swordsmanship skills with the Kaminari Blade while in Thunder Form. Both Inferno and Hurricane Forms lacked weapons whatsoever, but Voyager managed to offset it by maximizing the former's brute strength and pyrokinesis, and the latter's speed, agility, and aerokinesis. The fact that the SIG uploaded footages of Voyager's battles on their website made it possible for anyone to easily study them and judging by how Mariner managed to use her ArmTrans ability to its fullest to counter Voyager's forms and skills, it was likely that Minh had watched Voyager's previous battles beforehand to prepare herself.

However, Voyager's usage of his newly acquired Scatter Salamander card might give Ryōko the answer that she's looking for. Sure, Voyager had only used it out of desperation, but it had caught Ryōko off-guard when he used it. From what she had saw and observed from Voyager's hollowed-out armor during their spar, Ryōko managed to deduce that the Scatter Salamander card enabled Voyager to literally eject himself from his armor as new armor formed itself around his bodysuit, effectively using his old husk of an armor as a decoy to fool enemies as Voyager struck them down with a quick sneak attack.

Ryōko knew that Krishna was an intelligent man, someone who's willing to use his wits if he needed to. However, there were two things that prevented Krishna from using his wits properly in battle – firstly his Maojin opponents were too focused on the heat of the battle to properly outwit Krishna, and secondly during his battle with Mariner, Krishna's unwillingness to hurt Minh had prevented him from thinking straight, thus making him unable to use his wits to properly outmaneuver his opponent.

Finally knowing what she must say, Ryōko told Krishna, "It's up to you to determine whether you're ready or not. But as long as you believe in yourself and believe in what you're fighting for, I think that you're ready. Remember what we talked about earlier, Krishna. You're not fighting against Minh. You're fighting for her sake. You're fighting to get her back from all the senseless hatred that had consumed her. I think you can figure things out from there."

"Thanks," Krishna smiled, patting Ryōko on her shoulder, "You're right. I let my doubts got the better of me last time. I was too focused on accepting the fact that I'm fighting someone who I've considered as a very close friend. I've let my insecurities distract me from the battle and paid the price for it. Man…I can't believe some fictional character had more guts than me regarding this…"

"Fictional character?" Ryōko blinked, "You mean… _Maximilian Titan_?"

Krishna nodded.

"What's so good about that story anyway?" Ryōko asked, out of curiosity, "How did that story managed to keep your eyes glued to it to the point of you staying up all night reading it?"

"Reading _Maximilian Titan_ …I feel that I could relate to that character," Krishna replied, "He was an innocent man, framed for a crime that he did not commit. He went from an honorable policeman to a fugitive wanted by his own country. Not even the ones closest to him could believe his innocence…"

"And then what happened?"

"Max decided to fight for his innocence. Even though the people closest to him started to lose faith on him, he was determined to get them back to his side. And he did, eventually. By the end of the story, he's a policeman again, his rank promoted even. He regained his friends who were lost during the whole fiasco and even managed to fall in love with the very daughter of the politician whose murder he was framed on."

"That's sounds like a really happy ending," Ryōko commented.

Krishna nodded, "It was. However…I felt ashamed with myself. Max's situation mirrors mine and somehow he managed to find the courage to set things right. As for me…I've decided to wallow in my sadness and guilt over the pain of losing someone very dear to me. The reason I've read that story repeatedly…is because I need to find that spark. The spark that drove Max into clearing his own name. And I wouldn't have found that spark…if it wasn't for you, Ryōko. Thank you. Thank you very much for snapping me out of my blues."

"Don't thank me," Ryōko laughed, "Thank _Maximilian Titan_ and the guy who created him. If it weren't for them, you wouldn't have gone soul-searching throughout the entire night, relating your situation to that of Max's. I only pushed you into finding that missing element that drove Max's actions."

 **xxx**

 _ **The next day**_

 _ **Binh Tan District**_

The day of the rematch between Voyager and Mariner has arrived. It was still early in the morning, with the Sun barely making its grand appearance in the sky, but already Krishna was on the move, riding his motorcycle into Binh Tan District. Following him was Kim's Suzuki Swift, with Kim behind the wheel, Steffi next to her, and Vy, Naomi, and Ryōko stuffed to the passenger seats. Leo was noticeably absent, as he was patrolling the city with the MCU at the moment, however he had told the SIG girls that he would come to them as soon as possible if one of them sent him an SOS message should things go horribly wrong.

While Minh had proposed everyone to meet up at the famous Quach Thi Trang roundabout in District 1, Krishna had told everyone that he's making a trip to Binh Tan District first before meeting up with Minh, as he's going to return _Maximilian Titan_ to its author.

According to his name card, Rei lives in Binh Tan District, in an apartment building situated at the heart of Ho Chi Minh City's migrant workers district. Krishna felt indebted to the man who partially inspired him out of his slump and he has decided to return _Maximilian Titan_ to him, feeling that Rei should take another shot at sending his story to the publishers.

Following the instructions on how to get to the apartment's address from Steffi, Krishna soon found himself riding his motorcycle through the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, a rather shady and rundown part of the metropolis that not too many people had taken notice. Low-cost apartment buildings were scattered all over the place, while the whole area reeks of the distinct smell of sewage. Stray dogs were seen sleeping on the sidewalk, while several children, not caring to the somewhat damp and dirty environment around them, were seen playing football on the street. Krishna had to honk his motorcycle's horn twice to get them to move out of the way.

"So this is the side of Ho Chi Minh City that they never told you…" Naomi muttered as she saw her surroundings, clearly surprised at how poorly developed the area was, "We never had one of these back home in Japan…"

"Binh Tan has always been one of the poorest part of the city," Steffi explained, "For some reason the rapid development that has been going on all over the city had either never reached this place…or it hasn't started here yet…"

Suddenly Krishna stopped his motorcycle, prompting Kim to pull her car to a stop behind him. The two vehicles had stopped next to a huge, ten-story apartment building, with an Ottoman feel to its architecture. It literally stood out like a sore thumb amongst the many rundown apartments in the district, with an air of intimidation emanating from it.

And strangely enough, on the first floor of the apartment, was a 7-Eleven convenience store.

Krishna took out Rei's name card from his jacket pocket, giving it a good look before taking a glance at the Ottoman-styled apartment next to him.

"We're here…" Krishna said as he realized that they had reached their destination.

Krishna, Karin (who was inside Krishna's jacket pocket) and Ryōko had elected themselves to go to the apartment, while Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Naomi were left behind inside Kim's car. As Krishna and Ryōko made their way to the apartment's 7-Eleven, suddenly Ryōko stopped in her tracks, her head turning left and right as she began to sniff the air around her profusely.

"Is everything okay, Ryōko?" Krishna asked, "Is the smell of the sewers bothering you?"

"It's not that, I could tolerate that to be honest," Ryōko replied, "It's just…something about this building…feels…forbidding. It's like…we shouldn't enter it at all costs."

Listening to Ryōko's words, Krishna took a quick look at the apartment in front of him. The apartment's architecture did make it look quite threatening and imposing from the outside, but as far as he's concerned, there's nothing wrong with it.

"If you're uneasy about this, just stay here. We'll be quick," Krishna told Ryōko, before he disappeared into the apartment's 7-Eleven. However, Krishna's words did little to ease Ryōko's worries, as the Kitsune felt that something…or someone, was watching her from one of the apartment's many windows…

 **xxx**

The apartment's 7-Eleven was surprisingly clean and welcoming for visitors, despite the overall unwelcoming feel of the entire apartment building.

As the 7-Eleven's doorbell chimed the moment Krishna stepped into it, he was greeted by the sight of clean floors, neatly-stacked shelves, fully-packed fridges, and the Slurpee machine humming quietly at the corner. Behind the store's counter was a man in his 50s, who looked quite young and athletic despite his age. Wearing the standard 7-Eleven uniform, the man has lightly tanned skin, a tall build, and thinning dark brown hair with a slight upward-facing crest above his forehead.

If it wasn't for his age and the man's uniform, Krishna would have been forgiven to think that he was standing face-to-face with Tintin himself.

Clearing his throat a few times in order to get rid of any _Herge's Adventures of Tintin_ -related references in his mind, Krishna made his way towards the counter. However, just as he approached the counter, he felt something vibrating in his jacket pocket. Taking a quick glance into it, Krishna was surprised to see Karin coughing violently inside his pocket.

"Karin, are you okay?" Krishna whispered, trying his best not to be heard by the man behind the counter, "You're acting quite…weird. Don't tell me whatever's affecting Ryōko's affecting you too!"

" _ **Unfortunately yes,**_ " Karin whispered back, coughing twice before continuing, " _ **We should not waste our time here, Krishna. Just drop Rei's short story here and go. There's something about this place…that screams…unspeakable evil.**_ "

"Unspeakable evil?!" Krishna gasped, "What are you talking about?"

" _ **I don't know how to say this…but this place…seems to be strongly connected…to the Maojins.**_ "

Krishna's eyes went wide in shock, "You're kidding me."

" _ **I kid you not. We should investigate this place…but since we have our rematch today, we can't stick around here for too long. If we have the time, I'll remind you to revisit this place to gather more information about it.**_ "

"Gotcha."

Approaching the counter, Krishna placed Rei's short story on it, as the man behind the counter greeted Krishna with a smile.

"Welcome to 7-Eleven!" the man greeted, "How can I help you?"

"Do you know a Nguyen Van Duc Manh?" Krishna asked back, pointing at the short story on the counter, "I need to return these to him."

"Rei, huh? I know him."

"You know him?"

"Yeah! My name's Tran Hong Phuc by the way, I'm the manager for this branch of 7-Eleven as well as this apartment's landlord. I'm also Rei's neighbor."

"Okay, Mr. Phuc, is Rei home?" Krishna asked.

Mr. Phuc shook his head, "Unfortunately no. He's at campus right now…but if you want to, I can hold onto these for a while. Rei's working part-time here and his shift is tonight, so I could give it to him at that time."

"Great. That would be appreciated. Thank you! And don't forget to say my thanks to him as well."

Mr. Phuc picked up the short story from the counter, still displaying that warm smile of his, "Don't worry. I'll make sure that Rei gets these safe and sound."

With the job done, Krishna bid farewell to Mr. Phuc, before he left the 7-Eleven. However, little did Krishna knew, as he closed the 7-Eleven door behind him, Mr. Phuc's warm smile began to distort into a sinister, psychopathic-looking smile.

"Oh yes," Mr. Phuc smirked to himself as he inspected Rei's short story in his hands, "I'll make sure that Rei gets these alright…"

 **xxx**

After Krishna had exited the 7-Eleven, he met up with Ryōko and the two of them returned to their respective vehicles. Little did they know, a pair of sinister, maroon eyes were watching them from a window on the apartment's second floor. The window gave the eyes' owner a clear view of the street in front of the apartment, however at the same time the window also obscured the eyes' owner from the sight of anyone below the apartment building, making it the perfect spying spot.

The owner of the eyes was a monstrous Andean condor-themed male humanoid, tall and muscular in build with black feathers covering most of his body. Silver, razor-sharp talons adorned the humanoid's dark brown hands and feet, while a white feathery collar was seen wrapped around the humanoid's neck, the same set of white feathers also present on the wrists and knees of the humanoid. The humanoid's head was leathery in design, colored dark brown with slight wrinkles here and there, complete with the aforementioned maroon eyes and a sharp silver beak that curved downwards. Folded nicely on the humanoid's back were a pair of black feathery wings, while the familiar golden belt was seen around the humanoid's waist, with a green loincloth hanging out of it, indicating that the humanoid was a Maojin from the Wind Tribe. However, unlike most Wind Tribe Maojins, the humanoid's loincloth had gold highlighting on it, with the roman numerals " **XIV** " emblazoned on the loincloth in gold.

This monstrous humanoid was none other than Temperance, in his true Condor Maojin form.

"So that's the one they call Kagura," Temperance hissed, his eyes fixated on Ryōko who was inside Kim's car, "Star was right…that fox monster could spell bad news for us…she has the potential to be as powerful as that Voyager, and we need to have her eliminated before she could eliminate us!"

 **xxx**

 _ **Quach Thi Trang Roundabout, District 1**_

It was a relatively quiet morning at the city's famous Quach Thi Trang roundabout. Situated between the equally famous Ben Thanh Market and the always bustling Ben Thanh Bus Terminal, it was named after Quach Thi Trang, a 15-year old student who was shot dead by the police during a student demonstration in 1963. A bust of Quach Thi Trang was erected in the middle of the small park occupying the roundabout, being accompanied by the imposing-looking statue of General Tran Nguyen Han, who helped established the Le dynasty in the 15th century. Both statues were removed from the roundabout during the construction of the Ho Chi Minh City metro system, but were subsequently placed back there after the metro system had been completed.

Until this day, the Quach Thi Trang roundabout remained as one of the most famous landmarks of Ho Chi Minh City, being the silent witness of millions upon millions of traffic that went around it throughout the years as well as being visited by countless tourists from all around the world in its long history.

Standing adjacent to the roundabout was a brand-new Starbucks outlet, having been opened just around a few weeks ago. Sitting on the Starbucks' patio seats that overlooked the roundabout and its lively traffic were Minh and Thao, the two of them sipping their respective caramel lattes. The two had been at the Starbucks since around 8am in the morning, waiting patiently for Krishna to show up for his rematch with Minh over their morning coffee.

"Minh, do you have the time?" Thao asked.

Minh glanced at a giant Casio billboard located nearby that has a huge LED clock installed on it, "9:45am. Fifteen minutes to go…"

"Are you excited for this, Minh?" Thao asked again, "About your rematch with Krishna?"

Minh nodded, "Of course. I really hope that he could genuinely put up a better fight than the last time…Dad always said that he's a very powerful and skillful fighter, so to be able to face off against him one-on-one…is really a privilege. I'm also hoping that we could be able to finally settle our score once and for all…Krishna must pay for what he's done to my family and by defeating him once and for all in battle…I would finally be able to avenge Dad's undeserved death at his hands. Today is the day Krishna will finally receive his judgement for what he has done and I will make sure that justice for my family…and also for you…will be served."

A few minutes later, after both Minh and Thao had finished their respective drinks, Krishna's motorcycle rolled into view before stopping right in front of the two young women's table. Kim's car was behind him and pulled itself into a stop the moment Krishna parked his motorcycle. Immediately Minh and Thao stood up from their seats and got out of the Starbucks, meeting up with Krishna and his friends in front of the Starbucks outlet.

"Yo," Krishna greeted as Steffi, Kim, Vy, Naomi, and Ryōko joined him, "Am I late?"

"You came just in time," Minh replied with a smile on her face, "Now, just follow me, and we'll take you to the location of your rematch."

"Ah yes, you need to fetch your car first, right?" Steffi asked.

Minh shook her head, "Not exactly. We came here by bus."

"So how are you two supposed to take us to the rematch location, then?" Kim asked.

Hearing that, a smirk appeared on Minh's face, "Allow Thao to give you the answer."

Nodding, Thao immediately took out the Proto ScanDriver, much to the surprise of Krishna, Steffi, Kim, Vy, Naomi, and Ryōko.

"Is that…" Krishna gasped in disbelief upon seeing the Proto ScanDriver in Thao's hands.

"I've managed to create a prototype Driver by reverse-engineering my own Driver," Minh explained, "There's still some work to be sorted out with it, but this is the closest thing that we have to an actual man-made version of the ScanDriver. Now, Thao, let's show our friends here your new power."

Thao complied, placing the Proto ScanDriver on her waist. Immediately a pair of silver straps extended themselves out of the Driver, securing the device on Thao's body. Taking out the Pelagic Barracuda card, Thao then proceeded to pull out the Proto ScanDriver's tab, revealing a small slot large enough for the Maojin Card to fit into. However, instead of the computerized male voice that spoke out whenever a Driver's tab was opened, a looping heavy metal standby tune was played instead.

" **Henshin,** " Thao said calmly, inserting the Pelagic Barracuda card into the Driver's slot and slamming the Proto ScanDriver's tab shut, prompting a slightly distorted and stuttered computerized male voice to announce,

 **TEN HE-HEN-HENSHIN! PE-LA-G-I-C BAR-RA-CU-DA RE-A-D-Y!**

Thao then proceeded to press the first silver button on her Driver, causing the device to announce,

 **BA-T-TLE M-O-DE, EN-GA-GED!**

The Proto ScanDriver splits open, revealing a translucent blue screen with a white image of a barracuda engraved on it. A blue rectangular projection with the same white barracuda image was then projected from the Proto ScanDriver, prompting Krishna and his friends to step back in surprise as it almost smacked them away. The projection them moved itself towards Thao before phasing through the young woman's body, disappearing behind her as Thao's body was enveloped in a bright blue glow. Thao's body began to shift and change rapidly as the glow died out, revealing a completely different being in Thao's place.

Thao had transformed into a tall and bulky mechanical monstrosity, humanoid in build but with the physical features of a barracuda, colored blue with a little black thrown into the mix. Her feet were flipper-like in design, resembling to those worn by scuba divers, colored blue with black highlights. Her head resembled that of a barracuda's, blue in color, streamlined in design with a set of razor-sharp metallic teeth in her elongated jaws. Her eyes were strangely human-like, with sapphire blue irises and black pupils, while a pair of black handlebars were strangely present on the back of her head. Adding more to the peculiarity of Thao's transformed state were a pair of motorcycle wheels resting on her shoulders. The fingers of Thao's transformed self were tube-like in shape, resembling miniaturized versions of a battleship's cannon barrels, while a leathery loincloth was seen hanging out from underneath her Proto ScanDriver, colored blue with black highlights just like the rest of her body.

Last but not least, a feature that stood out from Thao's transformed state was a large, semicircle-shaped LCD screen on her chest. The screen was black in color, but suddenly a blue digital image of Thao's face appeared on the screen, startling Krishna and his friends.

" _ **Hey guys,**_ " Thao greeted, her voice sounded like it has been autotuned, " _ **How do you like my new form?**_ "

"Meet the Barracuda Maojin," Minh introduced Thao's transformed self, "I think you would recognize this beast from somewhere, Krishna. This is a mechanical recreation of one of the Maojins that you and my father had defeated all those years ago."

"I knew that thing looked familiar from somewhere…" Krishna commented.

"This here Maojin will be my partner in battle," Minh continued, "And she will also be involved in our rematch today."

"Hey, I thought this rematch thing is a one-on-one affair?!" Ryōko called out.

"I know," Minh nodded, sounding a little bit uneasy considering the treatment that she had received from Ryōko the other day, "Thao won't be involved in the rematch directly; however, she will supervise the rematch and will intervene in case any Maojin decided to interfere in our rematch. This battle is between me and Krishna, and I won't let anyone disturb it."

"Well," Ryōko pouted, "I really hope that you really hold onto your words on your battle being just between you and Krishna. Otherwise…"

Ryōko quickly made a throat-slitting gesture at Minh. The latter remained calm despite receiving such a threat, however in her mind, Minh was clearly unsettled. However, Minh tried her best in retaining her composure, which she had to admit she had pulled off quite successfully.

"Don't worry," Minh told Ryōko, trying her best to sound reassuring to her however at the same time wary of being jumped upon by her like the last time, "I promise that this rematch is exclusively between you and Krishna. Thao won't be involved and you guys won't be involved as well. And no damn Maojin's going to ruin my duel with Krishna like the last time."

"That's cool and all, but how does turning your PA into a walking-robotic-fish-thing could help us in getting to the rematch location?" Vy asked.

"Thao, show them."

 **TRA-VE-L M-O-DE, EN-GA-GED!**

The barracuda image on the Proto ScanDriver suddenly changed into an image of a motorcycle, as another blue rectangular projection, this time with the motorcycle image emblazoned on it, was released from the device. The projection phased through Thao's body, and once again her body was overtaken by a bright blue glow. Suddenly the motorcycle wheels on her shoulders were ejected off as Thao's body began to transform once again, before the motorcycle wheels attached themselves onto the front and the back of Thao's body. As the glow died out, the jaws of Krishna, Steffi, Kim, Vy, Naomi, and Ryōko dropped in unison upon the sight of what Thao had transformed into this time.

Thao had transformed from the Barracuda Maojin to a black and blue Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7R, with the head of the Barracuda Maojin resting on the front part of the motorcycle. The LCD screen on the Maojin's chest had now moved to where the speedometer is supposed to be, displaying Thao's face, the current speed of the motorcycle, as well as the amount of fuel that the motorcycle has. The Barracuda Maojin's flipper-like feet now formed the motorcycle's rear end, which has a barracuda's caudal tail mounted on it. The Proto ScanDriver now rests between the speedometer screen and the motorcycle's seat, while the Barracuda Maojin's fingers now formed the side vents on the motorcycle's body.

"Holy shit…" Krishna muttered, completely speechless by the transformation that he had just witnessed.

"Did she just transform…into a freaking motorcycle?!" Steffi gawked out in surprise.

"Meet the Jet Maobarracuda," Minh introduced Thao's motorcycle form, "She's my answer to that cool bike of yours, Krishna."

"Right, I have to concede defeat there. Her motorcycle's definitely cooler than mine," Krishna said, before turning his attention towards Ryōko, "Is her motorcycle cooler than yours?"

"I hate to say it…but yes…that thing's miles ahead of my own motorcycle back home…" Ryōko muttered in disbelief.

"Right, let's not waste our time," Minh said, riding on top of her Jet Maobarracuda as she slapped on her helmet, "Let's go to our rematch location."

"I'll make sure that I'll keep up with you," Krishna replied, putting on his own helmet as he hopped onto his own motorcycle, while at the same time Steffi, Kim, Vy, Naomi, and Ryōko went into Kim's car.

And with Minh on her Jet Maobarracuda leading the way, the trio of vehicles set off, leaving behind both the Starbucks outlet and the Quach Thi Trang roundabout as they mingled themselves with the bustling Ho Chi Minh City traffic…

 **xxx**

 _ **Thu Thiem New Urban Area, District 2**_

Located at a point bar of the Saigon River in the city's District 2, was the Thu Thiem New Urban Area. Also known as the Thu Thiem Development Project, it was an ambitious project by the Ho Chi Minh City government to establish a state-of-the-art urban district that would replace District 1 as the city's city center. Once one of Ho Chi Minh City's most populated areas, the people of Thu Thiem were relocated elsewhere since the late 90s as plans went underway to redevelop the entire area into the sophisticated "metropolis within a metropolis" that the city has dreamt for. A Japanese-American architectural firm won the rights to design the entire area and it was projected that in 15 years the new urban area would be completed.

However with the fluctuation in economy and the city's flawed bureaucratic system, the development of the Thu Thiem New Urban area was stuttered and delayed multiple times. As of 2023, only 25% of the proposed Thu Thiem New Urban area has been completed, with a few hotels, apartments, an international high school and even a mosque being the only buildings that had been erected in the area since the start of the project some 23 years ago. The rest of the area were patches of barren wetlands, with the rubble of the area's former buildings being slowly overtaken by nature, still waiting for the hands of developers to convert them into the majestic skyscrapers that were envisioned by the minds behind the Thu Thiem New Urban Area.

And at one of those desolate patches of wetlands, the rematch between Kamen Riders Voyager and Mariner will take place.

Krishna and Minh stood face-to-face at a spacious field located in the heart of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, with the area's skyscrapers, both completed and under construction, littering the background. A tense ambience enveloped the entire field, with the squawks of crows flying overhead and the brief machine chatter from the nearby construction sites the only noises echoing throughout the area. Steffi, Kim, Vy, Naomi, and Ryōko stood behind Krishna, with Kim and Naomi leaning themselves against Kim's car. Standing behind Minh was the Jet Maobarracuda, now back in her Barracuda Maojin form.

"Are you ready, Krishna?" Minh asked, taking out her ScanDriver and placing it on her waist.

Krishna slowly took out his ScanDriver, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly and steadily, Krishna placed his Driver on his waist, his eyes still closed. A few seconds after the ScanDriver had been secured on his waist, Krishna slowly opened his eyes, determination flaring from them.

"Let's settle this once and for all, Le Thao Minh," Krishna said, taking out his Thunder Kabuto card as he opened up his ScanDriver, "I will do whatever it takes…to fight for my innocence…and to save you…from you own vengeance!"

"I have trained myself for this day, Krishna!" Minh exclaimed, opening up her own ScanDriver and taking out her Marine Manta card, "Today is the day…that you will pay for your crimes against my father…against my family…and against me. Let our trial by combat begin…now!"

" **Henshin!** " both Krishna and Minh yelled in unison.

 **ACE HENSHIN! THUNDER KABUTO!**

 **ACE HENSHIN! MARINE MANTA!**

 **(Cue BGM: Gaia vs. Agul ~ Fateful Duel – Toshihiko Sahashi from the Ultraman Gaia OST)**

Flashes of purple and blue washed over the battlefield as both Krishna and Minh transformed into their respective Kamen Rider forms, the two of them charging straight at each other as their respective armors formed themselves on their bodies. Once their transformation had completed, both Voyager and Mariner swung identical punches at each other, both striking their respective cheeks.

Everyone in the sidelines watched on in awe as both Voyager and Mariner exchanged physical blows at one another, neither of them gaining the upper-hand. Voyager was backed by his extensive combat experience, while Mariner had her Rider form's enhanced stats and her fiery vengeful determination that enabled her to keep up with her opponent. The two Riders swung identical roundhouse kicks at one another, the kicks clashing in mid-air for a moment. As both Voyager and Mariner backed away, the former quickly leapt into the air, performing a quick flying side kick that struck Mariner on the chest. Quickly recovering from the attack, Mariner quickly retaliates by landing two perfect roundhouse kicks on Voyager's head, before following suit with a couple of punches to the stomach. With Voyager stumbling back in pain, Mariner quickly grabbed onto Voyager, and performed a knee-slam onto Voyager's ribs. Her opponent disoriented and coughing, Mariner quickly chopped the back of Voyager's head, sending the black-and-purple Rider reeling to the ground.

However, Voyager was not down and out. No, not this early. Shaking his head rather groggily, Voyager quickly performed a leg sweep, smacking Mariner's ankles and effectively sending her off balance. A recovered Voyager quickly stood up, with Mariner following a few seconds later, and the two were at it again, with Mariner on the offensive this time. Executing yet another roundhouse kick, Mariner aimed straight for Voyager's chest, only much to her surprise, Voyager managed to catch her incoming leg with his right hand. And adding more to her shock and surprise, Voyager somehow mustered enough strength to lift her off the ground by her single leg, performing a quick judo throw afterwards. Quickly recovering by performing a somersault in mid-air, Mariner quickly rolled on the ground once she had landed and within seconds, she's back on her two feet.

That was when Voyager went in for the attack, punching Mariner twice on the chest, before a solid kick to the chin ensued. Rubbing her chin in slight pain, Mariner spat out some blood inside her helmet before proceeding to land a powerful jab onto Voyager's left eye. Clutching his bruised eye, Voyager chopped Mariner on the torso, before Mariner replied with an uppercut to Voyager's chin.

"Damn, there's no separating these two…" Steffi muttered as Voyager and Mariner continued to trade blow after blow after blow, before she turned her attention towards Vy, "Vy, are you recording this?"

Holding her trusted phone to record the entire battle, Vy gave Steffi the thumbs up.

"It's true that it has been a fairly equal battle," Ryōko commented, "But they haven't pulled out their big guns yet."

 **TWO EQUIP! THUNDER CENTAURUS!**

 **NINE EQUIP! HYDRO ALPHEID!**

With the Hydro Gunner in her hands, Mariner took aim and fired off a few shots, all of them being easily parried away by Voyager with his Kaminari Blade. Mariner kept on firing but much to her surprise, her opponent was fast enough to slice away and deflect all the projectiles heading towards him. So, she decided to try something else.

Reaching for the dial at the back of the Hydro Gunner, Mariner slowly turned the dial from its default setting in the middle, indicated by a black wavy icon above the dial, towards the left, indicated by a black icon of rain droplets above it.

 **MACHINEGUN MODE!**

Aiming her Hydro Gunner at Voyager once again, Mariner opened fire, but this time, instead of the shotgun-like bursts of blue energy that came out from the muzzle, the Hydro Gunner fired off a furious flurry of blue energy bullets that caught Voyager off-guard. The bullets tore through his armor and even disarmed him of his Kaminari Blade and once the onslaught had stopped, Voyager dropped to one knee, smoke billowing out from where the bullets had struck his armor. Even though the Hydro Gunner was set into a machinegun-like setting, Voyager felt that he had just been blasted at pointblank range by a Gatling gun out of all weapons.

"Given up yet?" Mariner taunted.

Voyager slowly shook his head, clenching his fists tightly as he slowly stood up and assumed a defiant fighting stance, "No…not just yet!"

"Well then, I guess I need to punish you even further," Mariner said, turning the dial on her Hydro Gunner all the way to the right, indicated by a black icon of a tsunami above the dial.

 **BEAMGUN MODE!**

Mariner wasted no time in firing the Hydro Gunner again, this time letting loose with an intense beam of blue energy that went straight out of the weapon's muzzle. Voyager had no time to react as the beam crashed against his chest, the black-and-purple Rider staggering against the beam for a few seconds before an explosion erupted from where the beam had hit his chest.

 **(BGM ends)**

"Krishna!" Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Naomi called out in unison, however Ryōko looked strangely unfazed by the events happening in front of them.

" _You can do it, Krishna!_ " Ryōko thought, " _A man like you shouldn't go down from such an attack! I believe in you…you haven't shown us the full extent of your true power!_ "

And Ryōko was right.

 **ACE HENSHIN! INFERNO KOMODO!**

As the smoke from the explosion died out, Voyager had shifted to his Inferno Form, still standing proudly on both feet with his armor looking better than ever. Mariner's jaw dropped in disbelief briefly by the sight of Voyager emerging unscathed from her attack; however she quickly regained her composure, cracking her neck confidently before assuming her fighting stance.

"So you've changed forms. Big deal. I've defeated your other alternate form before, and I will surely crush this one as well!"

Mariner quickly took out an Overcharge Card and inserted it into her left hip slot, prompting Voyager to take out his own Overcharge Card, quickly tossing the card into the slot on his right hip.

 **MARINE OVERCHARGE!**

 **INFERNO OVERCHARGE!**

Mariner took aim as blue energy began to converge on the muzzle of the Hydro Gunner, several rings of blue energy materializing between her and Voyager. At the same time, Voyager's right fist erupted into flames, as the Rider slowly pulled his right fist back and extended his relaxed left palm forward.

" **Marine Blitz!** " Mariner exclaimed as she fired a powerful and continuous blue stream of energy from her Hydro Gunner, the energy stream being amplified as it passes through the energy rings between the two Riders.

" **Inferno Boost Impact!** " Voyager yelled, thrusting his fiery right fist forward. A powerful stream of flames was released from Voyager's fist, heading straight towards Mariner's incoming finisher.

The two attacks quickly clashed in mid-air, going back and forth slightly for a few seconds. Everyone in the sidelines watched on anxiously as the beam tug-o-war raged on for a good three minutes, with neither Mariner's Marine Blitz nor Voyager's Inferno Boost Impact gaining the advantage over one another. Eventually the accumulated energy became too much and a huge explosion erupted from the beam clash, knocking away both Mariner and Voyager while at the same time causing everyone to duck for cover. A huge cloud of dust enveloped the entire battlefield, with the cloud being large enough to be seen from the highest of the skyscrapers in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area.

 **xxx**

 _ **Somewhere near the battlefield**_

Witnessing the entire battle and the subsequent explosion from a safe distance were Death, Axel, and Hau, the three of them dressed in black from head to toe with Death bringing a pair of binoculars on her person as well. Death was initially reluctant to Justice's orders to observe the clash between the two Riders, saying that both he and Tower should act as observers instead since she's still performing her scouting duties, however due to the two Arcana Maojin's commitments with Rin, they had to attend a company meeting with her on the same day as the battle, thus leaving Death with the responsibilities of overseeing the rematch between Voyager and Mariner. That and the fact that she had to babysit both Axel and Hau for the entire day had irritated her to no ends. Taking care of her Tribe's Maojins was never Death's cup of tea, as she prefers to do things all by herself, but since the circumstances had literally put her into a tight corner, she had to do it whether she liked it or not.

Besides, it's been a while since Death last saw Voyager. There's something about Krishna and Karin that fascinates Death so much, especially since their last encounter in 20th century Nazi Germany. Highly considered as one of the most skilled fighters of the Maojins, Death had participated and emerged victorious in almost all of the battles that she had participated in, however Voyager was the first warrior who was able to match her fighting skills and even came close into defeating her, even after he had eschewed his powerful original form in favor of his weaker yet reliable Thunder Form. It was that encounter that made Death grew respectful of Voyager and whilst her comrades had viewed him in disgust, as a bane of their existence, Death viewed him as a worthy adversary, an opponent worth fighting against, and she would do anything to create a situation where she and Voyager would have their one-on-one duel to the death, similar to the one that Voyager and Mariner are having right now.

And by anything, that also includes betraying her fellow Maojins.

"Death," Hau called out, sending Death's thoughts back into reality, "That explosion should be enough to weaken the two of them. Should we move in?"

Death took a moment to collect her thoughts, using her binoculars to observe the slowly disappearing cloud of dust that enveloped the battlefield.

"Death, should we go in now?" Hau asked again.

"Not yet," Death shook her head, "Something tells me that this battle is far from over. We should not move in just yet."

"AAAARRRGGGGH!" suddenly Axel lets out an exasperated yell, "Not yet this, not yet that! You also said not yet after those two had battered themselves silly with their hands and feet! And now you're saying not yet after they had clearly been weakened by that explosion?!"

"Calm down, Three of Shields. You don't know anything about those two, especially Voyager. That explosion alone wouldn't be sufficient to weaken them."

"You know what? Fuck you, Death. You act all high and mighty to us while in reality it was Tower and Justice who pulled all the strings in our Tribe. You don't even do jack shit for our Tribe and now you're telling us what to do?! That's it. I'm going in. I have a score to settle with that ungrateful wench Le Thao Minh anyway for what she did to me."

And with that Axel transformed into the Swallowtail Maojin in a flash of purple light, before quickly taking off to the skies and flying away towards the battlefield.

"Wait!" Hau called out as a purple glow began to overtake her body; however Death quickly restrained her, "Let me go! I need to help the Three of Shields!"

"And you would be dead as well!" Death told Hau sternly, "Both Voyager and Mariner are not yet weakened. If you go after the Three of Shields now, you would end up being defeated as well!"

Hau's eyes went wide in both shock and horror, the glow overtaking her body disappearing instantly afterwards. Slowly Death let go of Hau, a look of pure solemnness can be seen on the Arcana Maojin's face.

"As far as we're concerned, the Three of Shields is already dead, done in by his own petty vengeance and recklessness," Death said regretfully, patting a clearly shocked Hau on the shoulder, "Now, let us retreat. The Three of Shields' actions had placed our entire plans in jeopardy. There's no point in continuing it."

 **xxx**

 _ **Back in the battlefield**_

 **(Cue BGM: Orb no Pinch – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

 **SHOTGUN MODE!**

Apart from a brief ringing in her ears, Mariner was mostly unfazed by the explosion, and within seconds she's back at it, firing off a number of blue energy blasts from her Hydro Gunner. The blasts landed a number of direct hits on Voyager; however the black-and-red Rider was protected by his reinforced armor, thus allowing him to wade through the projectiles easily. Using his left gauntlet to protect his face, Voyager charged forward, with Mariner's attacks being harmfully dispersed and deflected by Voyager's gauntlet. As small explosions erupted around him, Voyager lets out a determined yell as his right fist went up in flames once again. And before Mariner knew it, she received a powerful fiery punch right in her face.

Stumbling back from the force of that punch, Mariner clutched her lower jaw, groaning in slight pain before suddenly letting out an amuse chuckle.

"That's more like it!" Mariner exclaimed as Voyager went for the offensive once again, punching her chest armor twice with his fiery fists, "This…this is the battle that I wanted the other day, Krishna!"

Voyager pounded on Mariner's torso with his burning fists repeatedly, before finishing up the combo with a jab to her visor and a swift uppercut to her chin that sent Mariner reeling to the ground. Letting out a delighted laugh, Mariner slowly stood up, only for Voyager to grab her by her solar plexus with his right hand. Within seconds Mariner was hoisted over Voyager's head with just one hand, much to the amazement of everyone watching the battle. Yelling out in determination, Voyager used his enhanced strength to its full potential, throwing Mariner to the ground with little to no effort.

Moments afterwards Voyager had hoisted Mariner over his head again, this time with both hands. And like before, Voyager took no effort in chucking Mariner to the ground, the black-and-blue Rider landing on the ground with a loud thud. Assuming his fighting stance once again, Voyager waited patiently as Mariner slowly stood up, clearly disoriented yet still more than capable of continuing the fight.

 **(BGM ends)**

"Finally, you've proven yourself to be a great and formidable fighter, just like what my father had always told me," Mariner said, "Even though you have committed something unforgiveable to me and my family, it would be disrespectful for me to not acknowledge your potential and skills in battle. Voyager, you've really used those three days that I've given to you well."

"Thank you. You've also grown up to be quite the warrior. I see that your father had taught you well," Voyager replied, panting heavily from the intensity of the battle, "Even with me focusing myself 100% into the battle, you still had me in the ropes."

"But still," Mariner said, taking out an Overcharge Card, "You still must pay for the crimes that you've done to me and my family!"

Voyager braced himself as Mariner inserted the Overcharge Card into her left hip slot.

 **MARINE OVERCHARGE!**

Blue energy once again began to gather on the Hydro Gunner's muzzle, as three large blue energy rings began to materialize in front of the weapon. Mariner went down to one knee, aiming her Hydro Gunner right at Voyager's chest with the ring closest to the weapon acting as her crosshairs. As this was happening, more blue energy swirled and converged themselves on the Hydro Gunner's muzzle, forming a sizeable orb of blue, water-like energy.

Seeing that Mariner's going to fire off another one of her finishing attacks, Voyager quickly reached for his card holder and took out a Maojin Card from it. It was a Fire Tribe card, but not one of the two cards that Ryōko had given to him a few days earlier. Instead the card had an image of an Australian frilled lizard looking up at the setting Outback sun depicted on it, with the words " **BURNING** **CHLAMYDOSAURUS** " emblazoned in white on the red line present on the card's left hand side. The backside of the card, as usual, was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **7** superimposed on a sword engraved on it.

"Let's see what this bad boy can do," Voyager muttered as he inserted the card into his right hip slot.

 **SEVEN ABILITY! BURNING CHLAMYDOSAURUS!**

" **Marine Screw!** " Mariner yelled out as she pulled the Hydro Gunner's trigger, firing the orb on the weapon's muzzle. The orb travelled through the rings between Mariner and Voyager, going faster and faster as it went through them.

However just as the orb was about to hit its target, a huge flaming projection of a frilled lizard's head suddenly appeared in front of Voyager, protecting the Rider from the incoming Marine Screw finisher. A huge wall of vapor was created the moment the orb detonated against the projection, disappearing as quickly as it appeared within seconds.

As the wall of vapor dissipates away, Mariner's eyes went wide underneath her visor as she saw Voyager still standing firmly in front of her, the latter still in disbelief from the ability of the Maojin Card that he had used earlier.

"Holy shit, a defensive-type Maojin Card…" Voyager gasped, "Just like the one Ryōko gave to me, but I don't need to get hit for it to take effect. Not bad."

"That's two times that you've managed to cancel out my Overcharges," Mariner said, "You're sure a tough one to break, huh?"

"You're the one who asked me to fight you at my fullest potential," Voyager teased, cracking his fists twice before assuming his fighting stance once again, "And you've got exactly what you've wanted…a duel with me at my fullest potential."

"That's true," Mariner chuckled, placing a hand over her left hip slot. Seconds afterwards, the Hydro Alpheid card was ejected from the slot, causing the Hydro Gunner to disintegrate into blue motes of light, "Let's see how much longer you can withstand this no holds barred battle, shall we?"

Suddenly purple bolts of electricity appeared out of nowhere, covering both Voyager and Mariner in a series of small explosions that were enough to knock them down to the ground. Steffi, Kim, and Vy lets out gasps of horror on what had just happened, clearly surprised that someone had decided to crash the rematch. Suddenly Naomi noticed something flying overhead, swooping straight towards the two Riders.

"Look!" Naomi exclaimed, pointing at a figure flying towards the battlefield.

 **(Cue BGM: Treachery – Shiro Sagisu from the Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion OST)**

Letting out cackles of madness and mania, the Swallowtail Maojin lets loose with more bolts of electricity from his fingers, striking both Voyager and Mariner who were struggling to regain their footing. Mariner even dropped her Hydro Alpheid card, which was thrown away a few meters away from her by the force of the explosions surrounding her. Seeing that Mariner is at her most vulnerable, the Swallowtail Maojin brandishes his daggers, going straight for the kill.

"Watch out!" Voyager called out as he tried to reach for Mariner, but alas, the Swallowtail Maojin was much quicker than him.

"Now, prepare yourself for a trip of your lifetime, Le Thao Minh!" the Swallowtail Maojin exclaimed maniacally, his daggers ready to slice through Mariner's throat, "Next stop, your grave!"

However before he could land the killing blow on Mariner, the Swallowtail Maojin was suddenly rugby-tackled to the ground by something heavy. Steffi, Kim, Vy, Naomi, Ryōko, and even Voyager were left speechless as they saw who had saved Mariner from certain death.

It was the Jet Maobarracuda, and the mechanical Maojin looked very, very pissed off, judging by the enraged-looking projection of Thao's face on the Jet Maobarracuda's chest.

" _ **How dare you**_ ," the Jet Maobarracuda growled, " _ **Minh had specifically chosen this location so that no one, and I mean no one would interrupt this duel or get hurt in the crossfire, and you had the gall to defile the sanctity of this trial by combat?! Your actions…are unforgiveable!**_ "

As the Swallowtail Maojin groggily stood up, he was met by a solid punch to the face by the Jet Maobarracuda, who proceeded to mercilessly beat him senseless with her fists. The scene of the Jet Maobarracuda giving the Swallowtail Maojin a brutal beat-down was quite jarring for everyone, even though the latter completely deserved it for his actions. Ryōko in particular was deeply shocked by this, as the last time they met each other, Thao had presented herself as a gentle, friendly, and an overall nice young woman. But considering how Thao was always around for Minh even to the point of transforming into the Jet Maobarracuda for her as well as the Swallowtail Maojin's actions earlier, Ryōko could deduce that Thao's anger came from her sheer loyalty to her master and close friend as well as her desire to protect Minh from danger.

 **(BGM ends)**

"That girl," Ryōko sighed; shaking her head slightly as she slowly went towards the battle between the Jet Maobarracuda and the Swallowtail Maojin with the Gensou Driver materializing on her waist and her Kitsune features appearing on her body, "She kinda reminded me of myself, to be honest."

"What are you going to do, Ryōko?" Naomi asked.

"I'm going to give her a helping hand," Ryōko replied, "After all; we need both Voyager and Mariner to concentrate with their own battle. Can't have this butterfly guy ruin things for everyone, can we? **Henshin!** "

 **POWER RELEASE AUTHORIZED. INITIATING BLAZE FORM.**

Transforming into Kagura in her default Blaze Form, the Rider was about to leap into battle when Steffi suddenly touched her on her shoulder, prompting her to pause for a moment.

"Steffi? What's wrong?" Kagura asked.

"Long story," Steffi replied, before she proceeded to whisper something into Kagura's ear. Shortly afterwards the exorcist Rider nodded, understanding what Steffi had told her.

"Gotcha. Don't worry; I'll try my best to help you girls out as much as I can."

And with that Kagura jumped into battle, right when the Swallowtail Maojin had pinned the Jet Maobarracuda on the ground, having regaining his composure from that tackle earlier. Kagura performed an impromptu flying side kick during her entrance, knocking the Swallowtail Maojin away from the Jet Maobarracuda with her right leg.

Steffi lets out a brief smile as she saw Kagura helping the Jet Maobarracuda up, before seeing Kim, Vy, and Naomi coming towards her.

"So what did you told Kagura?" Kim asked.

"Remember the favor that Professor Truoc had asked us to do a couple of days ago?" Steffi asked back.

"Yeah…the one where we're asked to retrieve a Maojin Card for him, right?"

"Bingo," Steffi smirked, "Let's just say…Kagura's doing that task for us right now, since Voyager's…y'know…preoccupied."

"Pham Vu To Quyen, you fucking genius," Vy commented, causing Steffi to blush slightly.

Back to the battle between Voyager and Mariner, the latter was still on the ground, searching rather frantically for her Hydro Alpheid card, when she saw Voyager slowly walking towards her, the Maojin Card that she's been looking for in his right hand.

"Looking for this?" Voyager said, handing the card over to Mariner.

Mariner was clearly surprised by this act of kindness, a slight warmness and a feeling of nostalgia slowly creeping into her heart. For the past two years, Mariner had saw Voyager as the killer of her father, the one who had orphaned her, and the one who had thrown her life into complete disarray. Mariner had spent the last two years preparing herself to take down her father's murderer with her own two hands and all of those trainings and preparations had come down to today, the day she faced off against Voyager in a battle to the death. However, would a cold-hearted killer take his time during their battle to help her out? Normally he would have just taken the advantage of that momentary pause to gain the upper-hand and finish her off just like what he had done to her father. But no, Voyager instead opted to help her search for her Hydro Alpheid card and even gave it to her once he had gotten it. Would such a kind-hearted man be able to pull off the action that she had accused him of doing?

For a brief moment, Mariner saw Voyager as the same young man who had become an older brother figure for her, the same man that she cared and loved deeply as a part of her family all these years.

Slowly Mariner accepted the card from Voyager, before she let the latter help her back to her feet. Once Voyager had dusted Mariner off, the black-and-red Rider slowly backed away from her, resuming his fighting stance.

"Shall we continue?" Voyager asked.

Mariner hesitated for a moment. A part of her wanted to continue the duel, to seek answers for her father's death, and to avenge him. However another part of her wanted to surrender, to throw away the duel completely. That part of her wanted to hug Voyager as a thank you for his actions, for his brief act of kindness that had thrown her into nostalgia. However, she doesn't want to look weak in front of Voyager as well as her late father and she wanted to discover the answers behind her father's death from Voyager, with this duel being the best chance that she had.

So slowly, and rather reluctantly, Mariner inserted her Hydro Alpheid card into her TransGauntlet on her right forearm.

 **NINE ARMTRANS! HYDRO ALPHEID!**

A bluish glow overtook Mariner's right forearm, with the forearm transforming into a large, metallic pincher, colored royal blue just like the Hydro Gunner. As Voyager clenched his fists tightly in preparation for what's coming next, Mariner took out a Maojin Card from her card holder with her left hand, a Water Tribe card judging by the blue line on the card's left hand side. The card depicted a sperm whale diving into the depths of the oceans, with the words " **DIVE WHALE** " emblazoned in white on the card's blue line. The underside of the card was gunmetal gray in color, with a stylized **4** superimposed on a cup engraved on it. With the same hesitation and reluctance as before, Mariner slowly inserted the card into the slot on her right hip.

 **FOUR ABILITY! DIVE WHALE!**

Mariner's body began to glow blue, as her muscle mass expanded slightly before the glow died out seconds afterwards. Snapping her Alpheid Crusher, the pincher in place of her right hand, a few times, Mariner assumed her fighting stance, ready to resume the battle where they had left off.

"Prepare yourself, Krishna," Mariner taunted, "This battle is not over until one of us bites the dust!"

"Now you're talking," Voyager smirked underneath his helmet, "Let's settle this once and for all, Minh!"

 **(Cue BGM: Touch the Fire – Project DMM)**

Both Voyager and Mariner charged at each other, the two locking into a grapple almost instantly. Mariner's Dive Whale card enabled her to match up to Voyager's brute strength in his Inferno Form, enabling her to go toe-to-toe with her opponent.

"Where were you on the 21st of March, 2021?" Mariner asked as she tried her best to put Voyager off balance.

"I was in America," Voyager replied, trying his hardest to push his opponent off him, "I was helping out a friend of mine there."

"Oh yeah? Which city?"

"Prometheus Falls," Voyager answered, "I believe a friend of your father was there."

"Really? Can you give me a name? Perhaps I might know that person."

"Adam Anders. Ask him. He'll confirm my alibi."

"Wait, you know Adam Anders?!"

Voyager nodded, before proceeding to finally shove Mariner off him, landing a good and solid flaming punch to his opponent's face, "Of course. I fought alongside his brother during my time in America. He's a close colleague of your dad as well and he told me how Lotus Industries has thrived after I left Vietnam."

Mariner stumbled back, clutching her face in slight pain before regaining her composure, "Adam was a good friend of my father's. Do you think that asking him would shed light regarding my father's death?"

"Perhaps," Voyager shrugged slightly, "Maybe it'll finally make you realize that I wasn't the one who killed your father."

Mariner lets out a roar as she swung her Alpheid Crusher several times at Voyager, with the black-and-red Rider easily avoiding each of the swipes, before catching the final swipe with his right hand.

"Listen, Minh. I wasn't the one who killed your father. I wasn't even in Vietnam two years ago. Please, listen to me. Calm down and I'm sure that we can sort things out together."

Shaking her head, Mariner proceeded to shove Voyager away from her, slashing the Rider twice with her Alpheid Crusher.

"My father…my father wasn't the only victim in the attack that took his life," Mariner said as she slashed Voyager continuously, "My friend…she also got hurt in that attack…and she said…she said…that she saw it with her own eyes. She saw…that you're the one who did that attack! You were the one who killed my father and hurt my friend!"

As Mariner delivered another slash, Voyager quickly crossed his forearms above his head, protecting his head from the incoming slash while at the same time parrying it much to Mariner's surprise.

"Just because your friend told you that I did it doesn't mean that I literally did it," Voyager said, "That's why you need to ask Adam. He knows that I wasn't in Vietnam two years ago, because I was with him and his brother at the time. Believe me, Minh, I'm innocent!"

"Are you sure about that?" Mariner asked, lifting her Alpheid Crusher and performing a powerful slash that broke through Voyager's defenses, "You might be lying to me with your words, you know."

Recovering quickly from that slash, Voyager lets out a loud battle-cry as his fists went up in flames yet again. The Rider then proceeded to punch Mariner twice on the chest with his ignited fists, causing the black-and-blue Rider to stumble a bit with smoke billowing out from where Voyager had punched her.

"You know that there's a possibility that there's some jackass who used my appearance to frame me for your father's murder, right?"

"That's true," Mariner nodded as a blue energy whale fluke materializes itself on her left hand, "But what are the chances of that happening?"

Using her energized left hand, Mariner performed a chopping attack that Voyager easily avoided, before the latter retaliated by kicking Mariner once in the stomach.

"Just trust me on this, Minh. As an old friend. As your brother. After this duel, call Adam, ask him if he knows me, and ask him about my whereabouts in March of 2021. He would most definitely say that I'm with him in Prometheus Falls in America, which mean that I wasn't in Vietnam at that time. How could I possibly kill your father and attack your friend if I'm halfway around the world?"

 **xxx**

 _ **Kagura and the Jet Maobarracuda vs. the Swallowtail Maojin**_

Meanwhile, at the 2-against-1 battle between Kagura and the Jet Maobarracuda against the Swallowtail Maojin, the exorcist Rider and the mechanical Maojin surprisingly worked well together as a team, with Kagura providing most of the close-range attacks and the Jet Maobarracuda supporting her with the occasional shower of energy bullets from her finger cannons. The Swallowtail Maojin, however, proved to be no slouch in defending himself. His daggers managed to go toe-to-toe with Kagura's Yon-kata Haraubuki in its sword form, while his lightning bolts provided some trouble for the Jet Maobarracuda.

Letting out a maniacal cackle, the Swallowtail Maojin attempted to slash Kagura with his daggers, only for her to parry the incoming attack with her Yon-kata Haraubuki. Twirling the weapon several times, Kagura converted the weapon into its bowgun mode, before firing several flaming arrows from the weapon. The Swallowtail Maojin managed to use his daggers to deflect a few of the arrows, however a few of them had managed to embed themselves in his body, causing him to groan out in pain.

With the Swallowtail Maojin weakened from Kagura's arrows, the Jet Maobarracuda rushed in, detaching the wheel on her right shoulder and wielding it like a _chakram_. As the Swallowtail Maojin pulled out the last of the energy arrows embedded in his body, he was soon greeted with a slash from the Jet Maobarracuda's wheel, causing him to stumble back in pain. Not letting the Maojin recover, the Jet Maobarracuda slashed the Swallowtail twice on his face, before, alongside Kagura, she performed a double side kick combination attack on the kaijin's chest that sends him tumbling to the ground.

"Not bad," Kagura complimented, "I'm quite surprised that you're letting me fight alongside you even though you didn't know me that well."

" _ **You know what they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend,**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda replied, " _ **Glad to be able to fight alongside you, Kagura.**_ "

"Save the talk for later," Kagura said, noticing that the Swallowtail Maojin was back on his feet, "We're not out of the woods yet."

"You two are starting to irritate me," the Swallowtail Maojin growled, his fingers cackling with purple electricity, "I will have my revenge on that ungrateful wench no matter what! And I'm not letting some bitch and some cheap knockoff of my kind stand in my way of getting my revenge!"

"I'm not a bitch!" Kagura yelled out in irritation, "I'm a bloody vixen!"

"Whatever," the Swallowtail Maojin rolled his eyes, "Who cares whether you're a bitch, a vixen, a dog or a pup, when you're toast!"

Letting out yet another maniacal cackle, the Swallowtail Maojin let loose with several powerful bolts of electricity from his fingers, the attack heading straight towards Kagura and the Jet Maobarracuda. Thinking quickly, the Jet Maobarracuda detached both wheels from her shoulders and use them as an impromptu shield, allowing Kagura to summon a blue circle made of water and ice in front of her.

 **ELEMENT SHIFT INITIATED.**

Allowing the circle to surge through her body, the red parts on Kagura's armor turned navy blue, the same shade as the one on Mariner's armor.

 **ELEMENT SHIFT COMPLETE. INITIATING RAIN FORM.**

Twirling her Yon-kata Haraubuki and converting it into a spear, Kagura used the Jet Maobarracuda's shoulder as an impromptu takeoff board, launching off it and delivering a powerful diagonal slash onto the Swallowtail Maojin's chest.

"Fucking Hell!" the Swallowtail Maojin cursed as he flailed backwards, before realizing that the slash that Kagura had performed on him had left him with a freezing wound on his chest, "Damn you! I can't feel a thing!"

" _ **Assuming a form that uses the same element as I do,**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda commented as she stood next to Kagura, " _ **I have to say, what an interesting strategy.**_ "

"You know what water does to electricity," Kagura smirked underneath her helmet, "It makes them go haywire. _Sate, odorimasen ka?_ "

" _ **Of course I would love to dance with you,**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda chuckled much to Kagura's surprise.

"You knew Japanese?!"

" _ **I spoke 5 languages, English, Vietnamese, Japanese, French, and Thai. Currently learning Indonesian. Being the personal assistant of a highly respected chairwoman of a successful company helps.**_ "

"Girl, something tells me that we're going to be really, really good friends."

As the Swallowtail Maojin had managed to shake off the icicles growing out from his chest wound, the kaijin was suddenly taken aback by crystals of ice slowly forming around his feet, effectively immobilizing him to the ground.

"Hey!" the Swallowtail Maojin grunted as he struggled to move his feet, "What's going on?!"

With the ground around the Swallowtail Maojin turned to ice, Kagura and the Jet Maobarracuda were free to skate around the immobilized kaijin, the former launching slashes with her Yon-kata Haraubuki and the latter using her finger cannons to blast away at the Swallowtail Maojin. This goes on for a good couple of minutes, to the point that the Swallowtail Maojin had become a battered shell of his former self; his wings torn apart by the Jet Maobarracuda's bullets and his body scarred from Kagura's slashes.

"Now for the grand finale," Kagura said as she lined up behind the Jet Maobarracuda, "Eat my Barracuda Sashimi Missile Attack!"

" _ **Wait, what are you talking about?**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda blinked, clearly surprised by what Kagura had just said.

Giggling mischievously, Kagura kicked the Jet Maobarracuda right on her butt, effectively launching her head-first towards the prone Swallowtail Maojin.

" _ **Yoouuuu craaaazy vixeeeeeeen!**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda cursed as she collided head-first with the immobilized Swallowtail Maojin, with the latter being literally uprooted from the frozen ground from the force of the impact.

"Sorry about that!" Kagura chuckled as she helped the Jet Maobarracuda stand up, "Should've warned you earlier."

" _ **In the name of Buddha and my ancestors, never do that to me ever again,**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda sighed, before turning her attention towards the weakened Swallowtail Maojin, " _ **Shall we wrap up this battle?**_ "

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Kagura replied as she prepared her finishing move.

 **FINAL CLEANSE INITIATED: RAIN RENDING!**

Charging blue energy, ice, and water into the blade of her Yon-kata Haraubuki, Kagura prepared herself to execute a powerful energy slash to finish off the Swallowtail Maojin, who had just managed to get back to his feet in a disoriented manner. However suddenly Kagura paused, remembering something that Karin had told her the other day.

" _Don't worry about the Maojin Card. Only Krishna's Overcharge finisher can seal the Maojin Card properly._ "

"Hey, do you happen to have an Overcharge-type attack?" Kagura asked the Jet Maobarracuda, "A friend told me that it's the only effective way to truly defeat a Maojin."

" _ **As a matter of fact, I do,**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda replied, pressing the fourth button on her Proto ScanDriver.

 **P-P-P-PE-LA-LA-LA-G-I-I-C OVE-R-R-CH-CH-A-A-R-G-E!**

Blue energy surged from the Proto ScanDriver towards the wheels on the Jet Maobarracuda's shoulders, the wheels spinning violently once they were fully charged with energy. Slowly detaching the spinning wheels from her shoulders, the Jet Maobarracuda crouched down as Kagura leapt into the air.

" _ **Rage of the Imperial Tsunami!**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda exclaimed as she threw the energized spinning wheels at the Swallowtail Maojin, the wheels slashing and battering the kaijin's body at frightening speeds.

Descending rapidly from the skies, Kagura added more to the Swallowtail Maojin's misery by executing a couple of supercharged slashes on the Maojin's body, before leaping away just in time for the Jet Maobarracuda's wheels to crush the Swallowtail Maojin in a pincer attack, destroying the Maojin in a spectacular explosion. Catching the wheels in her hands and placing them back on her shoulders, the Jet Maobarracuda joined Kagura in posing triumphantly in front of the raging fireball.

 **(BGM ends)**

After the explosion from the Swallowtail Maojin's destruction had died out, all that were left from the fiend were Axel's unconscious body, and a Thunder Tribe Maojin Card that depicted the image of a swallowtail butterfly navigating its way through a garden of flowers, the words " **BLITZ SWALLOWTAIL** " were emblazoned in white on the purple line present on the card's left hand side. A stylized **3** superimposed on a shield was present on the gunmetal gray underside of the card.

Slowly the Jet Maobarracuda approached both Axel and the Maojin Card, checking the pulse on the former. Kagura slowly went closer to the scene as the Jet Maobarracuda turned her head around, giving Kagura a nod. Knowing that it meant Axel was still alive, Kagura lets out a relieved sigh.

" _ **I will contact an ambulance shortly afterwards to pick him up,**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda said as she picked up both Axel and the Blitz Swallowtail card, before handing the latter to Kagura, " _ **I want you to have this.**_ "

Kagura was clearly surprised by this, knowing that she was the only one who knew about Steffi's request of retrieving the Swallowtail Maojin's card for her, "Really?"

" _ **Keep it as a token of our friendship,**_ " the Jet Maobarracuda smiled, " _ **Thank you, for being such an amazing partner in battle**_ **.** "

Reverting back into Ryōko, the Kitsune accepted the Maojin Card from the Jet Maobarracuda, before giving the mechanical Maojin a salute of respect, "I look forward to the next time we get to fight alongside each other again."

The Jet Maobarracuda saluted back as she left the scene, carrying Axel's unconscious body over her right shoulder.

 **xxx**

 _ **Back to the battle between Voyager and Mariner**_

 **(Cue BGM: Yuke! Ultraman Orb – Takao Konishi from the Ultraman Orb OST)**

Both Voyager and Mariner had been exchanging physical blows for a good ten minutes now, with neither of them having the advantage over the other. Mariner's decision to combine her Dive Whale and Hydro Alpheid cards proved to be a smart one, as thanks to the two cards, she had managed to keep up with Voyager Inferno Form's herculean strength. Voyager, however, had managed to keep himself in the battle thanks to his pyrokinesis and Inferno Form's superb defenses. The two Riders inflicted punch after punch, kick after kick, and even headbutts after headbutts on each other, but there were still nothing that could separate both Voyager and Mariner, literally nothing. The two Riders were evenly matched with each other, in terms of skills, power, technique, and determination. Even when fatigue began to set in, neither Voyager nor Mariner showed any signs of giving in. Their battle right now was truly the duel of the century.

Seizing an opening, Mariner clamped her Alpheid Crusher around Voyager's neck, letting a loud heave as she lifted her opponent off the ground, before Mariner quickly tossed Voyager aside. Backing away from the downed Rider with her Alpheid Crusher disappearing into blue motes of light, Mariner took out an Overcharge Card and inserted it into her right hip slot.

 **MARINE OVERCHARGE!**

" **Marine Crusher!** " Mariner exclaimed, going straight towards the recovering Voyager with her devastating dropkick, a bright blue glow emanating from both of her boots.

However, the moment Voyager saw Mariner coming at him, a brief smirk appeared underneath his helmet. Mariner's Rider Kick style was completely identical to Kagura's from yesterday, albeit empowered by water instead of stones, rocks, and dirt. She might not realize it, but the distance that Mariner had set up between herself and Voyager was identical to the distance that Kagura took when executing her Stone Meteor finisher during her spar with Voyager yesterday.

Which means Voyager knew exactly how to counter the incoming attack.

Taking out the Scatter Salamander card, Voyager took his time as Mariner came rushing down towards him, quickly inserting the card into his right hip slot the moment Mariner's energized boots were about to connect with his chest armor.

 **EIGHT ABILITY! SCATTER SALAMANDER!**

Mariner's Rider Kick landed a direct hit on Voyager the moment the latter's eyes were overtaken by a milky white sheen, causing a huge explosion to erupt from where Voyager had stood. Using the chaos and commotion to his advantage, Voyager ejected himself from his damaged armor, leaving him in his black bodysuit. Seconds afterwards red grid lines appeared on Voyager's bodysuit, forming a brand-new set of Inferno Form armor on his body. Quickly Voyager took out the Inferno Habu card and wasted no time in inserting it into his right hip slot.

 **THREE ABILITY! INFERNO HABU!**

As the smoke and dust from the explosion dissipates away, Mariner was left crouching in front of Voyager's now hollowed-out armor, the former panting heavily as the battle had clearly taken a toll out of her. But as she saw Voyager's armor standing proudly in front of her despite the severe damage to its chest, a sigh of dismay escaped Mariner's mouth.

"Really?! He managed to survive my Rider Kick?!" Mariner cried out in frustration, "How am I supposed to beat this guy if he kept on withstanding my finishers!"

Mariner slowly went towards Voyager's armor, approaching it warily as she anticipated it to somehow attack her when she least expected. However, as she saw the hollowed-out eye sockets of Voyager's armor, Mariner realized too late that she had fallen into Voyager's trap.

"That son of a…"

Suddenly a huge fireball slammed itself through Voyager's armor, shattering it into ashes and smacking Mariner right on her chest. As Mariner tumbled on the ground from that attack, the fireball hovered above her, making a sharp U-turn and heading straight towards the recovering Mariner, hitting her chest once again and sending her flying to the ground. Rising above Mariner, the fireball finished its attack by dropping itself on Mariner's head, effectively disorienting her.

With Mariner groaning and reeling from that attack, the fireball slowly hovered itself in front of her, before uncurling itself back into Voyager. In pain and in complete desperation, Mariner took out her Hydro Alpheid card once again and inserted it into her left hip slot.

 **NINE EQUIP! HYDRO ALPHEID!**

Seeing that Mariner had armed herself with her Hydro Gunner once again, Voyager quickly took out the Water Seahorse card from his card holder, apparently planning a surprise up his sleeve.

"Never tried using a Maojin Card from a Tribe different from the Tribe who's my form was based on, but can't hurt to try. Let's see how you can cope with this," Voyager said, inserting the card into his right hip slot.

 **SIX FUSION ABILITY! WATER SEAHORSE!**

Deftly avoiding the incoming shots from the Hydro Gunner, Voyager swiftly retaliated by firing a jet of boiling hot water from his right palm that struck Mariner right on her face, scalding her helmet and forcing Mariner to drop her Hydro Gunner as she was effectively weakened even further. As Mariner clutched her smoldering helmet, squirming and yelling in pain at the same time, Voyager took out his Overcharge Card, feeling that an opportunity had presented itself for him to finish the duel once and for all.

 **INFERNO OVERCHARGE!**

Letting out a powerful and determined battle-cry, steam began to burst out of Voyager's joints, before seconds afterwards the jets of steam were replaced by streams of intense fire. Voyager's armor began to burst into flames as the red lines on his bodysuit glowed intensely. Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Naomi watched on in worry as Ryōko and Thao, the latter carrying an unconscious Axel, joined them in the sidelines. Ryōko was clearly surprised to see Voyager bursting into flames like that, and she had a bad feeling about it.

"Krishna…what are you trying to do?"

" **Inferno Dynamite!** " yelled the burning Voyager, marching his way towards the weakened Mariner.

Immediately the burning Voyager grabbed onto Mariner, holding her into a tight bear-hug. Mariner cried in pain as the intense heat slowly penetrated her armor and burned her flesh, with Voyager tightening his grip on her with each passing second.

" _ **Krishna, what are you doing?!**_ " Karin, who had been silent throughout the duel, suddenly spoke out of concern, " _ **This attack…are you trying to kill yourself?!**_ "

Voyager did not say anything in reply, instead he lets out yet another yell as the flames enveloping him and Mariner became more and more intense. Mariner struggled inside Voyager's ever-tightening grip, in a vain attempt to break free from his clutches. A reddish yellow glow emanated itself from the flames surrounding Mariner, a clear indication that within seconds Voyager would literally detonate himself in a suicide attack. Realizing that her resistance is futile, Mariner slowly closed her eyes, ready to accept her impending fate…

 **(BGM ends)**

" _Dad, I'm sorry. Sorry that I couldn't be a good Kamen Rider like you. Sorry that I couldn't take care of everyone that I love. And sorry…for being unable to avenge your senseless death. Just wait for me, Dad…I'll join you in a better place_."

However suddenly Mariner felt that Voyager's grip on her had loosened itself, before a force pushed her away from the burning Rider. Rolling on the ground as the flames that burned her body died out, the last thing that Mariner saw was Voyager discharging the intense energy enveloping his body, causing his body to detonate spectacularly. Everyone shielded their eyes and took cover from the fallout of the explosion, which was so huge; it was visible several kilometers away from the battlefield.

Mariner was sent flying halfway across the battlefield by the force of the explosion, smashing back-first into a nearby perimeter fence. Her armor disintegrated into blue motes of lights once Mariner fell back on the ground, revealing a badly bruised and battered Minh, clearly weary from all the beating that she had received. Blinking her eyes a couple of times groggily, Minh slowly brought her hands up to her face, making sure that she's still alive and breathing, before pinching her cheeks a couple of times to verify that.

"I…I'm still alive…" Minh gasped, wincing in pain from her broken ribs and fractured limbs as she slowly stood up from where she had fallen, "But why…"

Minh's question was quickly answered once the smoke and dust from the explosion had died out, revealing a severely injured Krishna struggling to maintain his balance at the explosion's epicenter. Like Minh, he had been badly bruised and beaten in various places, but his wounds are much severe with the additional second-degree burns all over his body. His clothes were tattered and ripped at various places, and to Minh's horror, she could clearly see blood trickling out from Krishna's mouth.

"If I had killed your father…" Krishna said weakly, his legs quivering like jelly and his breathing heavy, "…I would have let you get killed by the full effect of my Inferno Dynamite and not push you away like that…"

Suddenly Krishna coughed a copious amount of blood, before his legs gave way entirely, the young man collapsing to his back, drifting away into unconsciousness in the process. Minh could only watch on in horror as Steffi, Kim, and Vy all went towards Krishna, the three young women frantically trying to wake him up.

"Krishna! Hang in there!" Steffi cried, trying to fight back the tears leaking out from her eyes, "We'll get you help as soon as possible!"

"Don't die on us!" Kim added, tears streaming down from her face.

"Krishna…please…" Vy pleaded, trying her best to wipe away the tears welling up in her eyes.

As the three SIG members tried their best to restore Krishna's consciousness, Thao, Naomi, and Ryōko all stood around Minh, with an unconscious Axel still slung around Thao's shoulders. Minh looked at Thao, who gave a slight nod, before turning her attention towards both Naomi and Ryōko. The two Japanese women nodded as well, but Ryōko's was added with a slightly stern look as well. Knowing what she must do, Minh slowly limped towards where Krishna was lying.

"Girls."

The grieving Steffi, Kim, and Vy turned around to see Minh standing behind them, a sorrowful and regretful look on her face.

"Don't worry about Krishna. I'll try my best to make sure that he's going to be alright. This duel was my idea, which means that I have to be responsible for any injury suffered by Krishna, no matter how severe it is. Besides, he had impressed me with his skills and determination that he displayed throughout our fight…and as an honorable person, I must nurse him back to health in order for him to resume his duties to protect this city from the Maojins. With those creatures running around without him…I won't forgive myself for causing this if they have their way with the city in Krishna's absence. Last but not least…during our fight…I felt…I felt that he might hold the key regarding the truth about my father's death. So I must let him live…in order to find out the truth about it."

Hearing that, Ryōko couldn't help but let out a slight smile on her face.

" _That idiot,_ " Ryōko chuckled mentally, " _Looks like she finally realized that she must set aside her grudge for the greater good, huh?_ "

"Thao, if you may…can you fetch a cab for us?"

"On it!" Thao nodded, taking out her cellphone and dialing a taxi for her and Minh.

Using the last ounce of strength that she had, Minh carried the badly wounded Krishna over her shoulder. With Steffi, Kim, Vy, and Naomi watching on, Minh limped towards Krishna, wincing in pain with each step from her own injuries. Suddenly Minh lets out a groan of pain as she lost her balance, her fractured legs unable to withstand both her and Krishna's combined weights. But as Minh was about to collapse to the ground, suddenly she felt the heavy burden on her shoulder being lightened slightly, allowing her to painfully regain her footing.

It was Ryōko. The Kitsune, touched and moved by Minh's words and plight, decided to give the young woman a hand by carrying Krishna on her back.

"I'll go with you," Ryōko told Minh, "I personally don't know your father, but I felt that I should lend a hand in finding out what really happened to him. I've already promised Ngan that."

"Thanks," Minh smiled weakly, "Maybe I should tell my sister the truth about all of this…"

"You'll have all the time in the world to tell her that. Besides, I need to talk to you about a few things…in a much more gentler, girl-to-girl kind of way, not the full-frontal assault way that you'd receive from me the other day," Ryōko said, before she noticed a green Toyota Innova taxi approaching them from a distance, "Looks like our ride's here."

Once the taxi that Thao ordered had arrived, Ryōko and Thao wasted no time in loading the unconscious Krishna into the taxi's back seat, before the former and Minh sat between him and Thao sitting on the front seat of the taxi. The unconscious Axel was entrusted to Steffi and her friends and he was immediately placed in the backseat of Kim's car. Kim once again assumed the wheel with Steffi sitting next to her, the latter pocketing the newly acquired Blitz Swallowtail card that Ryōko had handed to her before the Kitsune joined Minh, Thao, and the unconscious Krishna in the taxi. Karin was also present in Steffi's pocket, having also being handed over to her by Ryōko. The Arcana Maojin was deeply worried about Krishna's condition, however Ryōko had managed to calm her down and assured to Karin that she's going to make sure that Krishna's going to be alright. Last but not least, Naomi and Vy sat themselves in the backseat of Kim's car, with Axel's motionless body between them. As the taxi carrying Minh's group left the area, Steffi quickly took out her phone as Kim navigated her car towards the nearest hospital.

"Hey, bro, it's Steffi. I need you to come to the Buu Dien Hospital, ASAP. And bring Professor Truoc with you as well, as we've got something really special for him…"

 **xxx**

The traffic on Hanoi Highway that afternoon was bustling as usual, with the taxi carrying Minh's group being stuck within the gridlock. The taxi driver tapped his fingers rather impatiently on his driving wheel, with Ryōko keeping an eye on Krishna's unconscious body next to her. Green foxfire was present on Ryōko's fingers, as she was working hard to keep Krishna stabilized on the road. His centuries of conditioning had enabled him to survive wounds that would kill a normal human, however there's a limit to how Krishna could withstand injuries and judging by the state that he's in right now, he's about to hit that limit. While Ryōko was busy keeping Krishna from dying , Minh was gazing out of the taxi's window, drowning herself in her thoughts.

Thao, on the other hand, had a flurry of thoughts going through her mind. A familiar chord within her was struck the moment she saw Axel's unconscious body in place of the Swallowtail Maojin, before she quickly realized that the Swallowtail Maojin's host was indeed the same man that she saw in Minh's office the other day. Minh had previously told Thao a week ago that Axel was a security camera expert that Minh had hired to help with replacing the outdated security cameras in a number of Lotus Industries-owned facilities in South Vietnam. Coincidentally, it was around that time as well when a number of Lotus Industries-owned facilities in the Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Area were subjected to a number of mysterious sabotages and attacks, seemingly picking up from where the previous saboteur, the Firefly Maojin that Minh had defeated a while ago, had left off.

The encounter at Dong Tam Industrial Park a few days ago was the first time that Thao saw Axel's Swallowtail Maojin form with her own eyes and on that day as well, Minh and Axel had a lengthy discussion in the former's office, a discussion where Thao, who was normally allowed inside the office in such situations, was barred completely from it. This raised a slight suspicion within Thao, a suspicion that was raised significantly even more when Minh confided to her about the botched plan to use the Swallowtail Maojin as a bait to lure out Voyager. That suspicion was pretty much confirmed the moment she realized that the Swallowtail Maojin and Axel were one and the same all this time.

" _Minh…are you doing what I think you're doing?_ " Thao muttered in her thoughts, clearly uneasy by the outcome of her deductions, " _Are you actually…working together with the Maojins? The very creatures that you're fighting against? Minh…has your desire to avenge your father's death taken you to the deep end?_ "

"Where are we going, by the way?" Ryōko's voice suddenly derailed Thao's train of thoughts, sending her back into reality, "Shouldn't we be going to a hospital?"

"It's too risky," Minh shook her head, "The city doesn't know that I'm Mariner. If we go to a hospital, they might ask us questions on how did Krishna got injured like that and to be honest…by the extent of his injuries, I have no idea on how to fabricate the perfect cover story for it. As far as I'm concerned…the city's viewing Mariner in a bad light, no thanks to the actions of that Maojin at the AIRC a few days ago. I know, it was foolish of me to use the Maojins to further my intentions."

"Makes sense," Ryōko nodded, "So, where exactly are we going?"

"A friend of mine's. Krishna's going to stay there to recuperate from his injuries while I fetch the necessary medication for him at my place."

 **xxx**

 _ **Wind's house, Go Vap District**_

Wind was tending to her flower garden when she saw a taxi stopping in front of her house. Curious on who would come to her house unannounced, Wind warily opened her house's stainless-steel gates, only for Thao to barge in suddenly much to her surprise, with Ryōko and Minh frantically carrying Krishna's body into her house.

"Minh? What's going on?" Wind asked.

"Long story, I'll explain later," Minh replied as she and Ryōko stopped in front of the house's door, "Would you mind helping us a bit?"

Wind nodded, quickly opening her house's door and allowing Ryōko and Minh to carry the unconscious Krishna inside.

"Is your guest bedroom empty?" Minh asked.

"Yes it is. My boyfriend's still at Vinh right now, so he won't be here until the day after tomorrow," Wind answered.

"Excellent. Ryōko, could you help me carry Krishna into the guest bedroom?"

Quickly Ryōko and Minh took Krishna to the house's guest bedroom, the two laying Krishna's battered body on the bed there. Thao and Wind went into the room as well, the latter bringing a glass of warm water.

"Minh, what's going on?" Wind asked again as she placed the glass of water on a nearby nightstand before she proceeded to point at Krishna, "And who's that guy?"

Immediately Minh went towards Wind, whispering to her best friend's ear, "Remember Krishna? The guy that I told you a lot about during high school?"

"Krishna?" Wind blinked, before she realized something, "Ah, you mean your family friend who you looked up as an older brother?"

Minh nodded, "Exactly. That's him."

Immediately Wind lets out a shocked gasp, "That's Krishna?! What happened to him?"

"That's the long story part. Right now, I need to go back to the LIT to fetch some medicines for him. Thao, Ryōko, let's go!"

And with that Minh, Thao, and Ryōko rushed out of the room, leaving behind a speechless Wind alone with Krishna, who was starting to let out a series of weak groans. Realizing that the young man is coming to, Wind quickly grabbed the glass of water, ready to give it to Krishna in case he needs it.

Slowly Krishna opened his eyes, a surge of pain raging throughout his body as his senses returned to him. Once his eyes had opened completely, Krishna blinked them slowly, his mind still trying to process his surroundings.

"Where…where am I?" Krishna asked, his voice strained and weak.

"Don't worry," Wind answered quickly, smiling warmly at the man lying in front of him, "You're in a safe place now."

"Wh…who…who are…you?" Krishna asked again.

"My name's Tran Bao Quyen. Just call me Wind. I'm a close friend of Minh's and to be honest…I've heard a lot about you."

"About me?" Krishna lets out a slight groan, "Where's…where's Minh?"

"She'll be here in a moment, she's going back to her place to get you your medicines," Wind smiled, "Don't worry. We'll make sure that you'll recover from whatever happened to you as soon as possible…"

 **xxx**

 _ **LIT Penthouse, Binh Thanh District**_

Having raced all the way to the LIT with the Jet Maobarracuda, Minh, Thao, and Ryōko quickly went to the tower's penthouse. The moment the elevator carrying the trio arrived at the penthouse, Minh immediately limped out of it, leading Ryōko to the penthouse's living room, before instructing Thao to go to the penthouse's pantry to fetch the necessary medicines. As Ryōko sat on the living room's couch, Minh fetched two bottles of mineral water, before proceeding to sit next to the Kitsune.

"Sorry, my injuries meant that I'm unable to prepare some tea for you," Minh said, handing Ryōko the bottled water, "Have this instead."

"Thanks," Ryōko smiled, accepting the bottle from Minh and drinking out of it, "Anyway…I think I owe you an apology."

"For what?"

"Attacking you out of nowhere the other day. You see…I'm the type of person that is very sensitive when it comes with emotion. When Ngan told me about what happened the other day…I practically snapped. I have a lot of problems back home and I came all the way here to seek help from Krishna…and I can't help to notice that the problems that I'm facing is eerily similar to the problems that you two are facing right now."

"Really?" Minh raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Ryōko nodded, "I have an older sister back home, and our relationship is just like yours with Ngan. She's also a Kamen Rider like you, me, and Krishna…but she's being manipulated by the very monsters that I'm fighting back home. On top of that, there's also this other Rider back home who's constantly accusing me for killing his parents, even though in reality it was my sister who did it underneath the influence of the people who had manipulated her. You know Minh…the Rider who's harassing me back home…he's kinda like you."

"Like me?" Minh blinked.

"His name is Tatsuya Momosaki. Like you, he is a Kamen Rider who seeks to avenge his parents' deaths. Like you as well, he also blamed the death of his parents on someone else…me for him, and Krishna for you. And also, like you, he was consumed by his own vengeance to the point of doing things that he might regret later. You won't believe me when I say this, but he once put a curse on my friends to literally turn them against me, as he knew that my powers stem from my emotional stability."

"Shit, that's disgusting," Minh commented, opening her own bottled water and drinking it.

"I know," Ryōko said, drinking out of her bottle again before continuing, "And you know…I used to see you in the same light as Tatsuya. That is, until our confrontation the other day."

"Hold on, what do you mean by that?"

"I know that you didn't mean to put Ngan in danger," Ryōko said, "We Kitsunes have the ability to read through a person's heart and thus we're able to know whether a person's telling the truth or not. So immediately I knew that you were telling the truth when you said that Ngan being taken hostage was never part of your plan."

"She's the only family that I have left," Minh said sadly, lamenting her recklessness that had almost costed her sister's life the other day, "I would never forgive myself if she was harmed in any way."

"So, tell me, what actually happened on that day. And don't bother with lying…I can tell straight away whether you're telling the truth or not."

"And why should I tell you that?" Minh asked.

"I might be able to help you in finding out who actually killed your father. I can see right now that you're starting to have doubts about whether Krishna had really killed your father or not, so perhaps I can help you in shedding some light regarding the true identity of your father's murderer."

Minh sighed, "Here goes nothing then. You see those two doors in front of us?"

Ryōko looked at the direction where Minh had told her, and true to her words, there were two doors standing in front of them. Suddenly Ryōko's Kitsune senses jolted into overdrive the moment she glanced at the door on the right, as if Ryōko had sensed that something unspeakably evil was lurking behind it. Glancing for a few seconds at Minh, Ryōko was surprised that the young woman next to her seemed oblivious of the evil presence living with her and Thao all this time.

"The left one was Thao's room, and the right one is the room of a good friend of mine. It is also the room where my mysterious benefactor in my quest to avenge my father's death lives."

"Mysterious benefactor?"

Minh nodded, "The friend of mine in that room has been suffering from a rare form of brain cancer for quite a while and before his death my father had been working hard in finding out a cure for her condition. My father and my friend were on their way to a hospital to check on the latter's cancer when they were suddenly ambushed out of nowhere. That ambush costed my father his life and injured my friend quite badly. And the morning after my father's death…when I checked on my friend's condition at the hospital…that's when my mysterious benefactor showed up. He had acted as my friend's guardian angel, preventing her cancer from killing her as well as protecting her from the ambush that killed my father."

Clearing her throat before taking a sip of her bottled water, Minh then continued her story, "My mysterious benefactor helped me with my training and provided me with clues regarding my father's killer. Essentially, he filled in my father's shoes in becoming my mentor. It was my benefactor as well who told me that Krishna was the one who had killed my father. I refused to believe it at first, but somehow…my benefactor managed to use my grief over the loss of my father to make me believe him…"

As Minh slowly broke down into tears, Ryōko slowly clenched her fists. She knew that Minh's mysterious benefactor was the one who had manipulated her into fighting Krishna and somehow, this benefactor figure must be connected to the evil presence that she had sensed lurking behind one of the doors in front of her.

Trying her best to control her anger, Ryōko used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away Minh's tears, "Continue."

"The whole plan of using a Maojin to lure out Voyager…that was my benefactor's idea. The Maojin in question had been attacking a few of my factories lately and my benefactor used that to his advantage. He arranged for the Maojin to attack one of my company's research facilities, knowing that Voyager would probably show up to fight and defeat that Maojin. That's where I step in, seizing that opportunity to avenge my father once and for all. However, both my benefactor and the Maojin that I used as bait must have known about Ngan's school trip and chose the facility that she and her class were visiting as the very facility to attack in order to lure out Voyager. Ngan was totally out of my initial plan's equation and the fact that she was forcefully involved in my plan…it completely threw everything into the garbage can. I was a complete fool…I was a complete fool for trusting a Maojin to play along with my plans!"

"Then why did you trust that Maojin and your benefactor in the first place?"

"Because…my benefactor had fought alongside my father and knew him very well as a dear comrade of his. There's also the fact that my benefactor holds the answers behind not only my father's death but also behind the cure for my friend's cancer. It was thanks to my benefactor that my friend had managed to live her life until today…and if I don't follow what he says, I will never know the truth behind my father's death and my friend would die from her cancer…"

Hearing that made Ryōko's blood boil even more. This mysterious benefactor had not only played Minh like a fiddle, he had also used Minh's ill friend as a bargaining chip to his advantage. A truly disgusting and sickening individual indeed.

As Minh broke down into tears, Ryōko consoled the sobbing young woman, wiping her tears away with her sleeve and allowing her to finish up her bottled water.

"Thank you for your honesty, Minh. Now I know the truth behind what had happened between you and your sister…I hope that you and Ngan could sort this out as soon as possible. It hurts me to know that a pair of siblings like you who are supposed to take care and love each other was torn apart by the actions of a few crooked individuals."

Minh lets out a sad nod, "No, thank you for being such a good listener. I really wish that an opportunity would present itself to allow me to redeem myself in Ngan's eyes…"

Ryōko gave Minh a gentle pat on her shoulder, "That opportunity will come soon. I'm pretty sure that you will get the chance to make it up to your sister and the two of you would bury the hatchet in no time. I wish the same could be said for what I'm going through right now, though…"

"Thanks," Minh lets out a slight smile, "Good luck for your problems too. I pretty much know the burdens of being an older sister, so I kinda know what you're going through."

Suddenly Thao poked her head from the pantry door, "Hey Minh, could you help me with carrying these medicines? I don't think my pockets would be enough to hold them all."

"Right. I'll be with you in a sec."

As Minh left the living room for the pantry, Ryōko looked around her, making sure that no one's there, before slowly making her way towards the door that she felt was emanating an evil presence. Slowly opening the door, Ryōko stepped into the room behind it, only to be quickly surrounded by an array of advanced medical equipment, all of them hooked to a young woman sleeping peacefully on the only bed present in the room.

Tran.

Slowly closing the door behind her, Ryōko tip-toed her way into the room, making sure to avoid the numerous cables and wires strewn across the floor. However, she suddenly tripped on a cable, prompting her to curse out in surprise.

"Shit!"

Quickly Ryōko regained her footing, but her sudden cursing was more than enough to wake Tran up.

"Who are you?" Tran asked the moment she saw Ryōko standing in her room, "What are you doing here?"

Ryōko took a quick look at Tran and her eyes immediately went wide. Even though from the outside Tran looked like a friendly, somewhat defenseless young woman who had been debilitated by years of fighting her cancer, Ryōko could easily sense the immeasurable amount of evil energy emanating from the young woman's body. However, despite this Ryōko maintained a friendly smile, trying her best to not let her pent-up rage erupt like the last time.

"Hello! My name is Ryōko Mitsurugi. I'm a friend of Minh's," Ryōko introduced herself, "And you are?"

"Tran Phuong Trang, you can call me Tran. I'm one of Minh's closest friends," Tran replied, a friendly smile appearing on her face, "Nice to meet you. You must be someone that Minh had met on one of her business trips."

"You can say that," Ryōko said, rubbing the back of her head rather sheepishly, before resuming her serious demeanor, "Actually, I came here looking for someone."

"Someone? Who is it? There's only you and me here," Tran said.

"I'm looking for Minh's mysterious benefactor," Ryōko told Tran, "Do you know where he is?"

"Benefactor? I don't know what you're talking about," Tran replied, before suddenly she clutched her head in pain. Tran's entire body began to go into seizure shortly afterwards as an orange glow overtook her eyes.

"Tran! Are you okay?" a concerned Ryōko asked, before she realized that the advanced medical equipment hooked onto Tran's body did not detect anything out of the ordinary with the young woman despite her current state of distress. Immediately Ryōko's Kitsune senses knew what's going on.

Tran's body convulsed and contorted for a few seconds, before suddenly she stopped moving. Ryōko assumed a fighting stance, bracing herself to come face-to-face with the evil presence that she had detected inside Tran. Tran's eyes suddenly shot open, her eyes glowing a haunting orange.

" _ **Are you looking for me?**_ " Star's voice echoed out from Tran's mouth, confirming Ryōko's hunch that it is now the evil presence inside Tran that's doing the talking, " _ **You must be**_ _ **Ry**_ _ **ōko Mitsurugi, the one better known as…Kagura.**_ "

"You're damn right I'm looking for you," Ryōko said, her fists clenched tightly in anger, "You must be Minh's mysterious benefactor."

Tran chuckled, " _ **Indeed I am. My name is Star. I am the proud vanguard of the Maojin race, the very warrior of darkness who instill terror in the hearts of those who oppose us Maojins. And you…you've proven yourself to be a decent fighter, Kagura. You've managed to give the Eight of Shields a run for his money.**_ "

"Yeah, quit chit-chatting, will you?! I know what you've done, Star. You've framed my friend for a crime that he did not commit, you've manipulated poor Minh and had her fight someone whom she had considered as a brother that she never had, you've forced Minh's sister into a hostage situation and made her think that Minh had gone evil, and on top of that, you've been using the body of this poor woman as a leverage for your very own advantage. You disgust me, Star…you're beyond scum…you're below it. You've taken advantage of Tran's friendship with Minh to have her as your very own personal pawn. That is beyond repulsive…"

Foxfire began to form around Ryōko's body as her Kitsune features appeared. Glaring daggers at the possessed Tran, Ryōko slowly raised her right fist, the blue flames surrounding her body starting to converge towards it. However, Tran looked surprisingly calm, smug even. A smirk formed on the possessed woman's face, as if she's anticipating that Ryōko's going to punch the daylights out of her…

However suddenly Ryōko lowered her fist, taking a deep breath as both her foxfire and her Kitsune features disappeared. The possessed Tran was clearly taken aback by this.

"I know what you're thinking when I did that. You wanted me to attack this young woman, right? You're thinking that if I punch her, you can just abandon her body, leave her to die, and use someone else as your new host. In other words, you're going to make it look like that I've murdered this poor young woman. Well, that ain't happening."

Before Tran could say anything, however, Ryōko suddenly grabbed her by her collar, "But heed my warning. You better not mess around with Krishna, or Minh, or Ngan, or Thao, or this very young woman whose body that you're using, Star. I won't be here for a long time, I have my own problems back home. But if I hear just one word about you messing around with the inhabitants of this place or with Krishna, I swear to all of my ancestors that I, Ryōko Mitsurugi, will come all the way back to Vietnam just to give you a beating that you…will…never…forget. Remember that."

And with that Ryōko shoved Tran back to her bed and left her room without saying another word. As Ryōko slammed the room's door shut in front of her, Tran was left speechless on her bed, with Star equally speechless as well. It was the first time in over 6 centuries that someone had the gall to intimidate Star like that. Not even Voyager had the ability to strike such a feeling of fear and dread that Star's experiencing right now and he had always been the most intimidating opponent that the Arcana Maojin faced.

Breathing heavily, Star knew that with Ryōko around, his grip over Minh would become more and more loose overtime and eventually Minh would discover the whole truth about her father's death. And that means Star would lose the ultimate trump card that he had in the Maojins' centuries-long conflict with Voyager while at the same time gaining a powerful new adversary that would surely slowly tip the conflict into Voyager's favor.

A terrifying grin suddenly formed itself on Tran's face as the possessed young woman began to chuckle in Star's distorted voice. The Arcana Maojin inside Tran now knew exactly what he must do. He must eliminate this Kagura as soon as possible…or risk losing the advantage that he had over Voyager for the past couple of years.

 **xxx**

 _ **Later that evening**_

 _ **Binh Tan District 7-Eleven**_

"Owner, I'm going to start my shift," Rei said, adjusting his 7-Eleven uniform, "Take some rest, will you? You had been working hard all-day long."

"Sure thing," Mr. Phuc smiled, before he quickly remembered something, "Oh, Rei, this morning a friend of yours came here. He said that he wanted to return your short story to you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. He told me that he wanted to thank you for the story. I think he likes it."

"Ah, it's always nice to know that someone likes the fruits of your hard work. Is the story with you right now?" Rei asked.

"Yeah, it's with me. Let me fetch it for you. Just concentrate on serving those customers, okay?"

Rei saluted at Mr. Phuc, to which the elderly man replied with a salute of his own. Immediately Mr. Phuc headed towards the convenience store's backroom, entering it as Rei busied himself with the customers of the evening.

 **xxx**

Once inside the backroom, Mr. Phuc quickly looked around him to make sure that no one else is with him inside the room, before he slowly made his way towards a nearby wall. Observing the wall in front of him, Mr. Phuc was quick to see a large poster of Pamela Anderson from her role on the movie _Baywatch_ , prompting a wide grin to appear on the old man's face.

Mr. Phuc lifted the poster, revealing a small metallic lever. Pulling down on the lever caused the floor a few steps away from Mr. Phuc to unravel into a set of spiraled stairs that went underground. Mr. Phuc quickly made his way down the stairs, before the stairs reassembled itself back into the floor a few seconds afterwards, ensuring the secret of the secret underground passage that Mr. Phuc had just entered.

The underground passage underneath the 7-Eleven was an eerie one, with walls of blood red bricks surrounding the passage from the left and right, with the same set of blood red bricks making up the ceilings of the passage as well. The passage was dimly lit by a set of medieval-looking fire torches. Despite the limited visibility, Mr. Phuc was able to navigate his way through the passage into the secret underground room located at the end of it.

Entering the secret room through a metallic door that was similar to the doors present in bank vaults all over the world, Mr. Phuc was soon greeted by a macabre assortment of items inside the room. Rows upon rows of shelves were present in the room, all of them having jars of formaldehyde with a different human body part in each jar, ranging from ears, to internal organs, and even an unborn fetus. Newspaper clippings were scattered throughout the room's walls, all of them depicting the same general topic – the exploits of the mysterious serial killer known as Kira that had terrorized Ho Chi Minh City a good 10 years ago. Ranging from discoveries of Kira's victims to the HCMCPD's failed efforts in finding him, the room had a complete collection of Kira-related articles.

Adding more to the room's disturbing nature were an assortment of items made from human body parts. Lampshades made from human skin, torches made from human bones, chandeliers made from skulls, and the chairs inside the room were all covered in human skin in lieu of leather. Truly a room that would make the notorious killer Ed Gein green with envy.

But the room's centerpiece was an altar that was set up in the heart of the room. It was a simple, rectangular-shaped table, covered in a black velvet cloth. A pair of candles on human skulls were present on the altar, along with numerous ancient artifacts that seemed inhuman in nature. A Lovecraftian-looking statue was placed in the middle of the table, the statue resembling a nautilus-themed monstrosity with numerous tentacles coming out from its body, the head of the statue resembling a grotesque-looking inverted goat's skull. But that was not the most surprising feature of the altar.

Resting on the base of the statue, was a ScanDriver, identical to that owned by Krishna and Minh's. Unlike Krishna's who had a red tab and Minh's who had a blue tab, this Driver had a green tab.

Hanging around the altar were Temperance, Hanged Man, and Hermit, with Rei's short story present in Hanged Man's hands. Immediately as Mr. Phuc approached them, the three Wind Tribe Arcana Maojins bowed respectfully in his presence, with Hanged Man immediately handing Rei's short story to Mr. Phuc.

"I have to say, human literature's quite interesting," Hanged Man said as Mr. Phuc accepted the short story from him, "Your friend's quite the writer."

"I'll make sure he gets the message," Mr. Phuc said, pocketing the short story into his trouser pocket, before turning his attention towards the Arcana Maojins, "Friends, as we all know, the seal representing our Tribe that kept the Supreme Arcana Maojin known as The World has been weakened. However, the seals from the other Tribes are still in place, which means The World won't awaken as soon as we expected. But first I must thank you and your Tribe. If you haven't performed those murders in my steed, we wouldn't have gone this far."

"The feeling's mutual, Kira," Hanged Man said, representing his fellow Arcana Maojins, "You're kind enough to provide us with a place to hide from the humans while at the same time giving us the opportunity to gather as much chaos and destruction as possible in order to awaken our beloved Creator and Leader from his seal."

"However, as we all know, the warrior known as Voyager is here in Ho Chi Minh City," Temperance added, "And he has been eliminating warriors from our race's Tribes. To make things worse, the new Mariner has started to operate in this city as well. They could provide a huge hindrance to our plans…especially Voyager, with that fox monster around to aid him."

"Ah yes, I've heard of her. The fox monster who defeated one of the Thunder Tribe's warriors. Kagura, isn't it?"

"That's right," Temperance nodded, "We must eliminate Kagura before she could become a threat as great as Voyager."

"Luckily, our newest warrior will serve that purpose for us," Hermit added, snapping her fingers twice after she had said that.

Swooping down from a nearby shelf of unborn fetuses was a humanoid being themed after an Australian magpie, colored jet black from head to toe with patches of white feathers on the wings on its back as well as on the feathered collar on its neck. The slight bulge on the humanoid's chest indicated that it's a female, while a pair of metallic black swords were present in leather brown sheaths located on her hips. The familiar golden belt was present around her waist, with a green loincloth hanging out of it. The humanoid's midriff was white in color, while the feathery bra that she's wearing over her breasts was black. Sharp black talons adorn the humanoid's fingers, while her feet were adorned by a pair of black stilettoes. Last but not least, an Australian magpie-themed helmet was present on the humanoid's head, colored black with piercing red eyes. Even the beak on the helmet was pitch black in color, as black as the darkness of night. Underneath the helmet's beak was a pale white patch of skin, where the humanoid's human-like mouth was present. Her lips resembled that of an emo girl's, colored black with a hue of blood red.

"The Four of Wands at your service," the Magpie Maojin greeted, bowing gracefully in front of her Tribe's Arcanas and Mr. Phuc, her voice graceful and elegant yet at the same time cold and menacing.

"Excellent," Mr. Phuc smirked, "She could be of use for us."

"Actually Star had assigned her to perform a few missions and she had done them all quite admirably," Hanged Man said, "With Voyager and the new Mariner going at each other's throats, the actions of Four of Wands practically went unnoticed."

Upon hearing the word "Star," Mr. Phuc lets out an exasperated sigh, "For how much longer would you guys listen to that bastard? As the Tribe who had the honor of unlocking the first seal that kept The World at bay, you guys should be calling the shots! Not him!"

"Patience, Kira," Hermit lets out a sly smirk, "We're merely laying low. Sure, we're letting Star and the other Tribes have their own way, but that's until they've weakened their own seals on The World's tomb. But once they've done their deed, we'll show them why the Wind Tribe is the only Tribe that deserves The World's grace. And when that happens…your dream of becoming God among mortals…shall come into reality."

"Excellent," Mr. Phuc chuckled, "Once the time has come…I, Kira, will make his triumphant return to this pathetic world…and deliver judgement…to every single insignificant soul in the land…"

And with that, the entire room echoed with an eerie and disturbing laughter, with the people on the 7-Eleven and the apartment above ground unaware of the events unfolding underneath their feet…

 **xxx**

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 **xxx**

 **Next time, on Kamen Rider Voyager, episode 7 – Minh's Resolve**

The incident at the AIRC had casted a bad light on Kamen Rider Mariner. The people of Ho Chi Minh City had viewed her as an enemy, a bitter rival of Voyager who's more than willing to sacrifice innocents for her goals. However, after hearing out Krishna's alibi during their battle, Minh decided to investigate her father's death by herself, with the hopes that she could gather more additional information to shed light on the true identity of her father's killer. At the same time, Minh must rebuild her relationship with Ngan, which had been torn into shreds thanks to the incident at the AIRC. Meanwhile, the Earth Tribe Maojins has launched an attack on Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Ngan's high school! Ngan and a friend of hers were trapped inside the school as it was being laid siege by the Gazelle Maojin, a Maojin with the uncanny ability of illusions! With Krishna/Voyager being occupied by a series of Maojin attacks that targeted his friend Ryōko Mitsurugi, Japan's very own Kamen Rider Kagura, it's up to Minh to redeem herself in the eyes of the city as well as in the eyes of Ngan. Kamen Rider Mariner, it's time for you to step up to the plate and save the day!

 _ **Part of a mini crossover event with dfox300's Kamen Rider Kagura**_

 **xxx**

 **Maojin Card of the Day**

 **Hurricane Eagle**

 **Class:** Ace of Wands

 **Tribe:** Wind

 **Properties:** Transforms Voyager into his Hurricane Form, which trades strength and defenses for speed and agility. Themed after an eagle, Voyager has little to no protection from enemy attacks in this form, however that was offset by the enhanced speed and agility that this form has. He is also very nimble in this form, capable of avoiding enemy attacks easily before counterattacking them in frightening speeds. In this form, Voyager is also capable of aerokinesis, executing wind-based attacks with his hands and feet. His mental strengths are also increased in this form, being able to perform minor telekinesis, while his senses are increased exponentially to the point of being able to detect the slightest of movements from around 5km away. However, the lack of protection that this form gives makes it the weakest out of Voyager's three default forms.

 **Maojin of the Day**

 **Jet Maobarracuda**

 **Class:** Ten of Cups

T **ribe:** Water

 **Motif:** Barracuda (Battle Mode), Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7R (Travel Mode), Kawasaki Ultra 310LX (Cruise Mode)

 **Host:** Vo Hieu Thao

 **Abilities:** as an artificial Maojin brought about by the Proto ScanDriver, the Jet Maobarracuda's greatest feature lies in her ability to switch between three forms to support Kamen Rider Mariner in battle. Her default form is a mechanized version of the Barracuda Maojin, called Battle Mode. In this form, she can fire energy bullets from her finger cannons as well as using the wheels on her shoulders as a pair of deadly _chakrams_. Her Overcharge attacks in this form includes the **Rage of the Imperial Tsunami** , a slashing attack with her shoulder wheels, and the **Rage of the Battleship Yamato** , a continuous barrage of energy bullets from her finger cannons. Her secondary form is a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7R, which is Mariner's Rider Machine, called Travel Mode. In this form, the Jet Maobarracuda is able to travel in speeds up to 300km/h and fire off energy bullets from her front vents. Her tertiary form is a Kawasaki Ultra 310LX jet ski, called Cruise Mode. In this form, the Jet Maobarracuda is able to provide aquatic support for Mariner in battle, traveling to speeds up to 150 knots on water, and like Travel Mode, she's able to fire off energy bullets from her front vents. No Maojin, on land nor water, is safe when the Jet Maobarracuda's around!

 **xxx**

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! Once again I apologize for both the lengthy wait for the newest chapter as well as the chapter's huge length that might put off some of you, but I hope that with all the action and the happenings in this chapter, both the wait and the length would be worth it for all of you!**

 **And keep your eyes peeled for dfox300's newest chapter of** _ **Kamen Rider Kagura**_ **that will pick up the story from where I have left off~! And be sure to leave your reviews for this chapter! Remember, no flames~**

 **This is maxpower02, signing out~**


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